THE BIG LEBOWSKI
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Capsule: The Coen Brothers tell their funniest
story since RAISING ARIZONA. Jeff Bridges plays an
aging, burned-out hippie pulled into the weird
goings-on after the wife of a famous multi-
millionaire is kidnapped. The film is big-time
funny, has a host of really weird characters and
tremendous visual imagination, but could have used
a stronger third act. Rating: 8 (0 to 10), high
+2 (-4 to +4)
Now I claim what is going on here is that a cowboy without much respect for the sort of people he finds in Los Angeles, spins the gull-darnedest yarn about a guy he met in a bar a couple of times. But there will probably be other interpretations.
Jeff Bridges plays a laid-back aging hippie who happens to have the same name, Jeff Lebowski, as a famous philanthropist, though the hippie prefers being called The Dude. That sounds like it could be a good thing, but the philanthropist has enemies and some of the no-so- bright ones confuse the two and take their ire out on The Dude. After discussing the situation with his close bowling buddies, para-military Walter Sobchak (a hilarious role for John Goodman) and low-voltage surfer Donny (Steve Buscemi), The Dude figures there is nothing he can do but face the Big Lebowski (David Huddlestone). The Big Lebowski at first has little use for someone with The Dude's marginal life-style, but he finds a use when his wife is kidnapped and he needs someone to drop off the million-dollar ransom. The Dude wants to play it straight, but Sobchak figures if they play their cards right he and The Dude could split the million.
Only the Coen Brothers could tell a story this complicated, this weird, and with so many characters on so many different frequencies. The film is full of weirdoes, many of whom are present only to add texture. John Tuturro, missing from films for a while, plays the totally superfluous role of Jesus, the bowling rival of our heroes. The over-ripe Jesus practically dances a flamenco every time he throws the ball. Then their are the nihilist bikers. And if the script does not add enough weird characters, the character you think you know get weirder and weirder.
Raymond Chandler used to add a touch of the surreal to his mystery stories whenever his detective was knocked out by telling us Marlowe's dreams while he was unconscious. But then Philip Marlowe was only an amateur at hallucinating. He was not a stoned-out hippie like The Dude. Conk The Dude on the bean and you get weird bowling dreams that are worth the price of admission by themselves. The Coen Brothers have incredible visual imagination and tremendous good humor. Comedies of late have been mild smile- along-with-Sandra-Bullock sorts of things. The only recent film that made me laugh out loud recently was MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL. But it has been a good while since I have laughed as hard as I did at THE BIG LEBOWSKI. The only real problem with the script is the plot lacks a strong finish. After a strong first and second act, the film has a much lower-key third act that resolves the mystery but lacks the strength and the humor of the first two. The film needed a wild finish and goes soft and sentimental at the wrong time.
This is a film that has great visuals and has genuine laugh-out- loud humor. If it has a weak spot it is only that the story is just okay, but that is not really the point. I rate it 8 on the 0 to 10 scale and a high +2 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Mark R. Leeper
mleeper@lucent.com
Copyright 1998 Mark R. Leeper
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