The Big Lebowski (1998)

The Big Lebowski
Directed by Joel Coen
Written by Ethan Coen and Joel Coeh
1998/USA
Polygram Filmed Entertainment/Working Title Films
First viewing/my own DVD
#985 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

[box] The Big Lebowski: Is it being prepared to do the right thing, whatever the cost? Isn’t that what makes a man?

The Dude: Hmmm… Sure, that and a pair of testicles. [/box]

It was movie day with my nephew yesterday and a coin toss happily suggested this one.  I’ve had it in my collection for years but somehow did not get to it until now.

Jeff Lebowski (Jeff Bridges), better known as the Dude, has lived the same laid-back life style since the early seventies.  Unemployed, for recreation the Dude bowls, drives around, and enjoys the occasional acid flashback.   He also rather frequently indulges in a White Russian or a joint.  His bowling buddies are Walter (John Goodman) and Donny (Steve Buscemi), who also live in a previous era.  The unhinged Walter is still reliving his experiences in Vietnam.

The Dude shares a last name with a multimillionaire industrialist, here known as The Big Lebowski.  One night some thugs appear in The Dude’s apartment, rough him up, and pee on his rug in an effort to collect money owed by the other Lebowski’s young nympho wife. Dude seeks reparations for his damaged rug from the industrialist and eventually gets dragged into being the bag man in the wife’s kidnapping. The whole thing turns into a black comedy of errors, thanks largely to the involvement of the volatile but hapless Walter. With Julianne Moore as the Big Lebowski’s daughter, Phillip Seymour Hoffman as his fawning assistant, and John Turturro as a wigged-out bowling rival named Jesus.

Well, this was a whole lot of fun.  The best part about it was Bridges’ characterization of the Dude.  I used to know people a lot like that but not as late as the 90’s.  Everybody else is on the top of his game as well and the dialogue is as sharp as one would expect from a Coen comedy.

Trailer