The Big Lebowski

For my 1 year anniversary review I took a look at the movie 'Withnail & I', and during the review I remarked upon the film's quotability; i.e, it's plethora of recitable lines that people use in day-to-day situations. While making this comment, I mentioned a movie of a similar disposition; one where almost every line has been used by it's fans in their own lives, much to the amusement of themselves and others. From the productive minds of the Coen brothers, it's their 1998 comedy The Big Lebowski.

Starring Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, David Huddleston and Steve Buscemi, The Big Lebowski follows a humble slacker who is mistaken for a millionaire businessman, and in turn, becomes embroiled in a kidnapping and random scheme. Unappreciated in it's times, the movie has since become one of the world's pre-eminent cult films, spawning posters, t-shirts, bumper stickers and even it's very own festival. Funny almost beyond description, it deserves a mention on this blog, so here it is.

The movie opens in LA, where we are introduced to our hero, and I do mean hero: The Dude. Aside from being one of the coolest, funniest, and most likable characters in cinematic history, he's played by Jeff Bridges, one of the acknowledged 'dudes' of the film world. Trust me, he kicks ass.

The Dude is an unemployed stoner and bowling enthusiast who returns home one night and gets attacked by thugs who mistake him for the wealthy Jeff Lebowski, which also happens to be The Dude's real name. After not getting what they want, one of the thugs urinates on The Dudes rug, much to The Dude's annoyance. Believe it or not, this minor act of soiling becomes, essentially, the driving forces of the movie. No, I'm not kidding.

The Dude discusses his woes with his bowling team-mates: Walter (Goodman), an overzealous, easily angered Jewish Vietnam veteran; and Donny (Buscemi), a naive, good-natured, pro-bowler. The Dude decides to visit the 'Big Lebowski' (Huddleston), a prominent achiever who has no sympathy for The Dude's predicament, dismissing him as a 'bum'. But when Lebowski's wife Bunny gets kidnapped, he ropes in The Dude to get her back, completely forgetting the whole, 'good for nothing deadbeat' thing.

With the involvement of The Dude and Walter, what should be a very simple abduction story-line becomes wonderfully over-complicated with elements such as broody feminists, German Nihilists, private detectives, and blue movie directors. Thought a film could be more difficult to follow than Memento? Well this would give it a run for it's money.

Seeing this movie several years ago, it quickly shot up the list of my favourite comedies, and despite the number of times I've seen it, I laugh just as hard everytime. Much like comedy classics like 'Fawlty Towers', you not only laugh at the jokes, you laugh in anticipation of them. I start tittering when I know a funny scene is approaching, and throughout the scene, I'm in stitches.

As mentioned previously, it's the dialogue that makes this movie. 'Shut the fuck up Donny', 'They peed on my fucking rug', 'That's just, like, your opinion man', 'The Dude abides' the list goes on and on. I use so many lines from the film in my everyday life, and many hundreds of thousands of other people do likewise. The Coen brothers were definitely on-the-ball when they wrote the screenplay, and I could hear the words over and over again.

Finally, as I hinted previously, the film contains one of the most perfect casting choices in history. The Coen brothers themselves said that they wrote the film with Jeff Bridges in mind for the part, and Bridges himself has stated that it is the role he identified with most. When you watch the film, you don't see an actor, you see The Dude. He has no job, no prospects, no respect or sympathy from the majority, but he doesn't care. He's just living his life the way he wants to. A legend to some, a God to many, and the centerpiece of one of comedies most endearing achievements. The Big Lebowski; if you haven't seen it then beware, someone may just come along and cut off your Johnson!