Joel and Ethan Coen, better known as the Coen Brothers, are possibly the masters of the cult film. Every film they have made has never reach a large mainstream success; I could ask anyone in the UK if they ever saw James Cameron’s Avatar and every single one would say “yes“, but only a few would answer in the affirmative to seeing Fargo, Miller’s Crossing or, this review’s subject, The Big Lebowski or to even knowing who the Coen Brothers are. This is a shame because, not to sound disparaging to Avatar or James Cameron, they are brilliant films and filmmakers that trump many over-hyped mainstream films. Especially with The Big Lebowski, a surreal, eccentric and humorous film that has become one of my all time favourite Comedy or Film Noir or Mystery Thriller and one of my all time favourite films.
The story revolves around Jeffery Lebowski (Jeff Bridges), a laid back, unemployed, White Russian drinking, pot smoking bowler who gave himself the moniker of “The Dude”. After coming home from purchasing a carton of milk, which he pays for with a cheque, he is attack by a pair of thugs demanding money from The Dude that his wife owes to someone and pee on his rug, which really tied the room together. However, the thugs learn they’ve attack the wrong Lebowski. The next day, The Dude goes to the bowling alley where we meet The Dude’s usual associates and bowling team mates; Walter Sobchak (John Goodman), a short-tempered Vietnam veteran, a fact he will constantly mention in conversations that have no connection or reference to the Vietnam War; and Donny (Steve Buscemi), a naïve and good-natured bowler who interrupts Walter by inquiring parts of his diatribes he missed or doesn’t understanding, only to met by verbal abuse from Walter, usually “Shut the fuck up, Donny”. Walter convinces The Dude that he should visit the other Jeffery Lebowski to get reparations for his soiled rug and The Dude does visit the other Jeffery Lebowski, who will shall we referred to as the “The Big Lebowski”. The Big Lebowski (David Huddleston) is a wheelchair bound, multi-millionaire who refuses to help The Dude, but The Dude convinces The Big Lebowski’s sycophantic assistant Brandt (Philip Seymour Hoffman) that he was allowed to take any rug in the house.
Soon, The Dude is contacted by The Big Lebowski, who informs him that his wife, Bunny Lebowski (Tara Reid) has been kidnapped and he believes it may have been the carpet pissers, so The Dude is used in order to confirm these suspicions. However, Walter forms his own plan in order to keep the million dollar ransom but that quickly goes tits up and now an enraged Big Lebowski has told The Dude that he told the kidnappers, the German Nihilists (Peter Stormare, Torsten Voges and Flea), that they can acquire the ransom money in any way from The Dude. Eventually, The Dude is requested by Maude Lebowski (Julianne Moore), The Big Lebowski’s daughter, to get the ransom money back as she believes that the kidnapping is just an embezzlement ploy. So, The Dude must get the ransom with the help of a psychopathic, Vietnam veteran while surviving the attacks of nihilists, the chief of police of Malibu, a porn baron and a millionaire while making sure he sticks to his calm demeanour.
Most of the film’s humour comes from its collection of idiosyncratic and eccentric characters. We know about the main characters of The Dude, Walter and Donny, but the secondary and supporting characters are just as memorable; Maude Lebowski is a pretentious avant-garde artist and feminist who speaks fast and barley listens; The Big Lebowski is shouty and overdramatic (when he finds his wife has been kidnapped, he stares at the fireplace while he plays Mozart’s ‘Requiem in D Minor’); The German Nihilists who, like Walter with Vietnam, constantly mention the fact that they are nihilists and “believe in nothing” and will commit any reprehensible fact, but in the end they don‘t anything except wreak The Dude‘s music player; even the narrator, named 'The Stranger' (gloriously mustached Sam Elliot), makes a memorable appearance and presence in the film. Even minor characters are memorable; Knox Harrington (David Thewlis) is a Liverpudlian video artists and acquaintance of Maude who constantly giggles no matter what; The Malibu chief of police (Leon Russom), a violent reactionary who protects the influential and has no qualms in beaten up The Dude. Then there’s Jesus Quintana (John Turturro), whose presence in the film must total to about ten minutes, but he is such a memorable scene stealer. Jesus (and yes, he pronounces it in the English pronunciation, not the Spanish) is a Latino pederast who is the bowling rival of The Dude’s team, who wears clothes of matching colour, including his socks, has his nail on his little finger on his left hand sharpened and varnished (and it’s never explained, which makes it funnier) and licks his bowling ball before rolling it. As for Bunny Lebowski, she’s just really a MacGuffin and she’s played by Tara Reid, so you want her not to be in your film much, trying to act.
Another thing that sets The Big Lebowski from other films is two scenes, which are both dream sequences. That’s right, the film has dream sequences. They have no connection to the plot except for some references to the narrative like a Saddam Hussein bowling alley attendant (The Gulf War is mentioned a few times and bowling is the what most character’s lives revolve around). The first one has The Dude flying through the air while chasing after a woman on a rug, then falls down due to a bowling ball in his hand, then finds himself inside a bowling ball being rolled down a bowling alley. The second is a much longer sequence that is supposed to resemble pornography with The Dude in a cable repairman’s uniform, but is a bit more musical and Showtime-esque with synchronised dancers in bowling pin headdresses, a chequered and lit stairway and a Valkyrie in a bowling ball bra. Then The Dude is floating down an alley going in-between the dancer’s legs. It ends with The Dude being chased by the Nihilists in red Lycra bodysuits holding giant scissors. Now, both these sequences are quite pointless since they don’t really advance the plot and a more cynical man would think they were just filler and padding, but in my personal opinion, I feel that The Big Lebowski would be a poorer film without those sequences. And that is a pretty difficult thing to do since many people agree that dream sequences are many times stupid, pointless and just filler.
The soundtrack itself deserves its own review, as it is as eccentric and idiosyncratic as the film itself and I liked every single song used; I loved ‘Man in Me’ by Bob Dylan; I loved ‘Hotel California’ by The Gypsy Kings; and I loved ‘Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)’ by Kenny Rogers and The First Edition. The soundtrack has an odd but functional mixture of blues, jazz, classical, folk, country, rock and possibly every musical genre barring hip hop. The soundtrack would probably be funnier and make sense in context of watching the film but just listening to them on their own is still enjoyable.
The Big Lebowski is an entertaining film, but you may not like it because it is the quintessential cult film. It does have a plot, but its strength lays in its characters, its dialogue, its odd direction and its comedic moments which are just so memorable and quotable. See this film; it’s brilliant and a textbook example of why the Coen Brothers are seen as masters of the cult film.
I’m Random Internet Critic and I criticise it because the man in me will do nearly any task.
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