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Man, they just don’t come any better than this one. Only because I know I haven’t seen every comedy ever made, I won’t make the blanket statement that The Big Lebowski is the greatest, but, damn, it’s hard not to. Jeff Bridges plays the Dude perfectly in a role I doubt I’ll ever be able to disassociate him from (probably not a good thing for him) and is perfectly balanced by his two buds, John Goodman’s Walter and Steve Buscemi’s Donny. John Goodman was born to play Walter and I defy anyone who thinks Buscemi always plays the same part to say that after seeing this.

And, of course, there’s the Coen brothers mainstay John Turturro as “the Jesus.”

Cleverly spoofing the legendary complexity of Howard Hawk’s 1946 version of Raymond Chandler’s The Big Sleep, the story revolves around Jeffery “Dude” Lebowski, a deadbeat bowler and the multimillionaire Jeffery Lebowski with whom the Dude is confused. Only the duo responsible for Raising Arizona and Fargo, could take a beaten-to-bloody-death Hollywood formula like the “mistaken identity” plot line and make you feel like you’ve never seen anything like it before.

I couldn’t possibly recommend this movie enough. The script is perfect with not one bad or silly or unnecessary line. Every actor, from the cop in the police parking lot to Phillip Seymour Hoffman as the energetic assistant to Mr. Lebowski, delivers each line with a perfection that makes you sure they felt every single line was the most important in the film. This perfection, in fact, makes this movie infinitely re-watchable, and more funny and amazing every single time. I look forward with great anticipation to Oh Brother, Where Art Thou, the next Coen brothers installment, but I will enter the theater having prepped myself that they, as great as they are, will probably never again be able to hit that same chord they did with The Big Lebowski.

Thank goodness the Dude abides.

The Biggest Lebowski of Our Time
by Michael Flanagan

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In the opening scene of the Coen brothers comedy The Big Lebowski, Jeff Bridges drinks from a milk carton in a grocery store and then writes a check for sixty-nine cents as George Bush (Sr.) verbally attacks Saddam Hussein. This scene sets the style for the entire film, and is one of many examples of the genius that is The Big Lebowski.

The plot is simple: The Dude (Bridges) and his bowling team friends Donny and Walter (Steve Buscemi and John Goodman in the best performance of his career) act as a detective team while trying to figure out who "peed on The Dude's rug," why they did it, and where is Bunny Lebowski, the kidnapped and possibly toeless Los Angeles beauty porn star billionaire daughter of the other Lebowski, all the while fighting off dangerous nihilists and trying to win the bowling championship. Okay, maybe it's not so simple.

The characters of The Big Lebowski drive the film forward better than any Hollywood-forced-and-contrived plot. Donny's constant lack of understanding (of anything) plays off of Walter's temper like any Honeymooners routine, while The Dude's mellow confusion balances the act beautifully, ending his statements in "man" and "you know." (For example, "You're wrong, Walter, man! I mean, you know!") John Tuturro takes a hysterical turn as Jesus, an irate bowler with an uncomfortable past and an unhealthy desire to win the bowling championship. Of course, like everything else in the film, to the trio, it doesn't matter.

And that is at the core of The Big Lebowski. No matter what troubles the three men face, they always return to bowling, to their nightly conversations about Seinfeldian nothingness. They have a friendship and a bond that cannot be broken, a natural ability to push away the outside world and exist in their own, where it's okay to drink milk in a grocery store, or to dogsit for your ex-wife, or even to misunderstand every conversation that occurs. The comedy gives us an example of what all our lives could be, a pseudo religion of relaxation, to which we all aspire. Until then, as Sam Eliot's cowboy says, there will always be The Dude, "taking her easy for all us sinners." Beautiful unreachable simplicity: That is The Big Lebowski.

The Big Lebowski
Mark Capitelli

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The Big Lebowski is the Coen brothers’ (Raising Arizona, Fargo) quirky, comedic take on The Big Sleep. It stars Jeff Bridges, Julianne Moore, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, and John Turturro.

A case of mistaken identity and a ruined rug entwines Jeffrey “The Dude” Lebowski (Bridges), an unemployed, pot-smoking, bowler, into a ridiculous series of events. Soon, the Dude finds himself responsible for rescuing a rich philanthropist’s trophy wife from a gang of German nihilists, but all is not what it seems. It is a tale of greed and deception starring a cavalcade of bizarre characters as only the Coen brothers could create.

The dialogue between The Dude, Walter and Donny (Bridges, Goodman, and Buscemi) is truly classic, and if you pay attention, you might also find some fun social commentary. Some aspects of the film might leave you confused or even turn you off to it altogether, but it is a movie that requires a little thought and the understanding that you shouldn’t take it too seriously.

The script, the often surreal visuals, a soundtrack as quirky as the characters themselves, and of course the great cast make The Big Lebowski an intelligent comedy, a great party movie, and one of my favorite films.

The Big Lebowski
Jorge Solis

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           “The Dude” Lebowski lost his rug and he’s looking for it like Linus would if he ever lost his blankie. Then The Dude meets the real Lebowski, whose wife is kidnapped. Then something else happens. Then this happens but it doesn’t have to deal with the rug. Yes the plot is convoluted like the movie “The Big Sleep” because it was their inspiration.

           I think this is a type of movie that you have to see twice. I didn’t get the movie the first time. Maybe it was because the Coen Brothers made this movie after Fargo, which I consider to be their best one. The second time I saw The Big Lebowski, I think I sorta got it.

           I might be wrong on this but this is my interpretation. Jeff Bridges as The Dude is the only human being in a world full of cartoon characters. John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, and especially Tara Reid are playing cartoon caricatures while Jeff Bridges is the only one playing the role seriously. I hope my interpretation explains a lot about this movie. I could write an essay alone on The Dude. He is the ultimate slacker and he isn’t broke. The movie never explains how The Dude makes money but he does have money somehow. I did laugh out loud when The Dude bought a carton of milk with a check. Who doesn’t want to say, “The Dude is not in.” or “The Dude abides,” or my favorite, “Where’s the money, Lebowski?” I also have to mention that Jeff Bridges is wearing his own clothing as The Dude.

           This review wouldn’t be complete though without mentioning Lebowski Fest. Yes that’s right; a festival dedicated to The Dude. You get stickers, posters, and a bowling ball all for a fun time at Lebowski Fest. This is a movie you might have to see twice but you are going to get a kick out of it like so many other people...hopefully.

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Awards: IMdb.

Mark's Movie Info:

Neither The Dude nor Walter ever rolls a bowling ball during the movie.

The Dude's shirt with Oriental characters and an Asian holding a baseball bat, worn during the scene in which the Big Lebowski describes Bunny's kidnapping, is the same shirt worn by Jeff Bridges in part of The Fisher King.

The fictional German techno-pop band in the movie, "Autobahn," is actually a parody/homage of the 70's uber-techno explorers, Kraftwerk. The "Autobahn" album cover is almost a carbon copy of a Kraftwerk album cover and the group name "Autoban" is the name of a Kraftwerk song.

The girl appearing opposite Bunny Lebowski and the nihilist in the porno movie that Maude shows The Dude is an actual porn star, and a famous one at that. Her name is Asia Carrera and she once starred in a porno movie also called Logjammin'.

Norwegian posters and videocasettes carried the text "anbefales av norsk bowling forbund." This translates as: Recommended by the Norwegian Bowling Association.

The fast food restaurant "In & Out Burger" is referenced during the movie. John Goodman once did a commercial for the "In & Out" fast food chain.

The Dude drinks a total of eight White Russians during the course of the movie (dropping one in Jackie Treehorn's house).

In Maude Lebowski's home, one of the pieces of art hanging on the wall is a pair of oversized scissors on a red background, foreshadowing the Nihilists in The Dude's dream who are dressed in red and wielding scissors.

The private detective that's following Lebowski says that Bunny's family is from a farm "outside Moorhead, Minnesota." Moorhead is the home town of Jeff Bridges' wife and is located directly across the state line from...guess where? Fargo.

The Dude says "man" 144 times in the movie, nearly 1.5 times a minute.

The blue Volkswagen driven by the private eye is a reference to the Coen brothers' first film, Blood Simple, in which a private investigator drives the same car.

The song that begins after the Dude goes to the doctor and receives a proctological exam is Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Looking Out My Back Door." EEEeeeeeeeeewwww!

White Russian Recipe:

1 1/2 oz Vodka	1 oz light cream
1 oz Kahlúa
In a shaker half-filled with ice cubes, combine all of the ingredients. Shake well Strain into an Old Fashion glass 3/4 filled with ice cubes Drink it, Dude! Make more.

The Big Lebowski

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