The Big Lebowsi
Summary Mistaken identity spells disaster for The Dude (Jeff Bridges), the laziest man in L.A. County. Two thugs invade his home and assault him, looking for money to pay off his wife's debt. The only problem is The Dude is not married and we learn that although his real name is Jeff Lebowski, it is not the same wealthy Jeff Lebowski who has a wife that owes money to the wrong people. The thugs leave, but not before one of them urinates on The Dude's prized rug. The Dude wants reparations for the loss of his rug. After conferring with his two bowling buddies Walter (John Goodman) and Donny (Steve Buscemi), he decides that since his rug was ruined due to the negligence of Jeff Lebowski's wife Bunny (Tara Reid), he should seek out the Big Lebowski himself (David Huddleston) for restitution. It does not go well, as Mr. Lebowski scolds and berates The Dude as if he were a child caught stealing money from his mother's purse. The Dude's dealings with Lebowski are not finished however as The Dude is hired to be a courier for him. It appears that Bunny Lebowski has been kidnapped and Lebowski needs someone to deliver the ransom to her captors. The Dude accepts and with the help of Walter promptly botches the delivery. Nothing worse could have happened to The Dude as he becomes fully involved in the bizarre situation surrounding Bunny Lebowski including involvement in pornography industry and association with German nihilists. Could the scenario possibly get worse for The Dude? His love interest is the Big Lebowski's daughter Maude (Julianne Moore), who initially assaults him also (she didn't care for his solution for his rug replacement). She is quite a character, as flying around in a harness while naked, spraying paint appears to be her favorite pastime, and her acquaintances would make Marilyn Manson seem like a Boy Scout. The Dude must deal with all of these strange people (his friends included), unusual circumstances and survive countless assaults (some self-inflicted) to uncover the truth to the wacky Lebowski family.
Commentary After the credits rolled for this film I sat in the theater trying to decide whether I actually liked it or not. Two hours later I still could not make up my mind. To call this film "offbeat" would be a tremendous understatement. There are some truly bizarre films that work well (Matthew Bright's 'Freeway' comes to mind), and some films that have some bizarre moments (the Gimp scene in 'Pulp Fiction') that have the same effect. The Big Lebowski falls under the former category and some elements work, some do not. The Coen's definitely have a style all their own. If you were to walk in on this movie and not know what it was, you could pick out it was 'a Coen' in minutes, much like Stanley Kubrick films. The Big Lebowski's high points are definitely vintage Coen: colorful characters, a great ear for dialogue, seemingly unnecessary extra characters (like Marge Gunderson's lunch date in 'Fargo') and funny self-parodies. All of these elements are well done. Jeff Bridges does a wonderful job playing the spaced out Dude, and John Goodman gets the great role of the psychopathic Vietnam war veteran on the verge of a killing spree. This film is funny and has some nice comic subtleties, like when the Dude goes to the Supermarket just to buy cream and pays for it with a check. What I did not like was the fact that this movie is far too strange. I enjoy offbeat films more than the average movie fan, but this was ridiculous. It tries too hard. What was the point in having the Maude character introduced with that silly harness? What was with those strange dream sequences? I usually dislike dream sequences because it gives the director free reign to do whatever they please without explanation. The only normal character may be Donny, if only Walter would actually let him speak. It would have been nearly impossible for the Coens' to duplicate the success of 'Fargo', but this film is a slight disappointment nevertheless. However, I will still marginally recommend the film because it does have its' moments, and it is unfair to hold it up to 'Fargo' standards.
The Big Lebowski *** (out of five)
Directed by Joel Coen The Dude....................Jeff Bridges Walter......................John Goodman Donny.......................Steve Buscemi Maude.......................Julianne Moore Big Lebowski................David Huddleston Nihilist....................Peter Stomare Bunny.......................Tara Reid
Written by Randy Turgeon, March 11, 1998.
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