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Containing Multitudes: Tim Blake Nelson's 'Leaves of Grass'

JL;DR SUMMARY Tim Blake Nelson's film "Leaves of Grass," inspired by Walt Whitman's poetry, explores themes of identity and societal stereotypes through the tale of identical twins, portrayed by Edward Norton. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

IdentityJewish HeritageStereotypesPhilosophyHumanityViolenceOklahomaWalt WhitmanTim Blake NelsonEdward Norton

Places mentioned

Oklahoma, United States
"The story centers on identical twins, both played by Edward Norton. Billy is an Ivy League philosophy professor. His brother Brady is a marijuana dealer who grows his leaves of grass hydroponically with the help of his sidekick, played by Nelson. When Billy reunites with his estranged family in Oklahoma, he finds a netherworld of drugs and violence that forces him to question his ethics and values."
Providence, Rhode Island, United States
"a film that draws on his native Oklahoma, his college days at Brown, and his Jewish heritage."
New York, United States
"Josh Pais plays a henpecked orthodontist whose kids complain that New York pizza is better than Oklahoma pizza."
Israel
"Richard Dreyfuss plays a drug kingpin who quotes Shylock from The Merchant of Venice and brags that he donates his profits to Israel."

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Cairo Item ID 61608
Cairo Source ID 35
Retrieved 2025-09-16 05:31:27 UTC
Curated 2025-09-16 08:32:05 UTC