The Big Lebowski

DVD Cover

Released: 1998
Starring: Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, Julianne Moore, David Huddleston and Philip Seymour Hoffman
Plot: Jeffrey “The Dude” Lebowski is the ultimate LA slacker, until one day his house is broken into and his rug is peed on by two angry gangsters who have mistaken him for Jeffrey Lebowski, the millionaire, whose wife owes some bad people some money. The Dude becomes entangled and visits the real Lebowski in order to get some retribution for his soiled rug, and is recruited to be the liason between Lebowski and the captors of his now “kidnapped” wife. [credit: Internet Movie Database]

Wow, so much to say about this film from the Coen Brothers – ya know, the famous directors that brought us Raising Arizona, Barton Fink, Fargo, No Country for Old Men and others. This is a great, under the radar, film about mistaken identity with an array of very colorful characters.

Let’s get straight to the characters…

The Dude abides...

Jeff Bridges as Jeffrey “The Dude” Lebowski, a single, unemployed slacker living in Venice, California, who enjoys marijuana, Creedence Clearwater Revival, White Russians, and bowling. He has a very laid-back approach to life and seems unconcerned with money. Jeff Bridges had heard or was told by the Coen brothers that they had written a screenplay for him. The Dude is mostly inspired by Jeff Dowd, a member of the anti-war radical group the Seattle Seven (The Dude actually mentions during the film that he was one of the Seattle Seven), and a friend of the Coen brothers, Pete Exline, a Vietnam War veteran, who actually found a twelve-year old’s homework in his stolen car.

The Dude: “That rug really tied the room together.”

Mark it a zero!

John Goodman as Walter Sobchak, a Vietnam War veteran, and the Dude’s best friend and bowling teammate. Walter runs his own security firm, Sobchak Security, and places the rules of bowling second in reverence only to the rules of his adopted religion, Judaism, as evidenced by his strict stance against ‘rolling’ on Shabbos. He seems to have been quite dominated by his now ex-wife (for whom he converted), and still quickly does whatever she commands him to do. He is unstable, has a violent temper, and is given to pulling out a handgun in order to settle disputes. He says the Gulf War was all about oil and claims to have dabbled in pacifism. He constantly mentions Vietnam in conversations. He is based on screenwriter John Milius, who is a friend of the Coen Brothers, and Lew Abernathy, a friend of Peter Exline.

A 'Goodman' eulogy. Not Theo's finest moment.

Steve Buscemi as Theodore Donald “Donny” Kerabatsos, a member of Walter and the Dude’s bowling team. Charmingly naïve, Donny is an avid bowler and frequently interrupts Walter’s diatribes to inquire about the parts of the story he missed or did not understand, provoking Walter’s abusive and frequently repeated response, “Shut the f#!@ up, Donny!” This line is a reference to Fargo, the Coen Brothers’ previous film, in which Buscemi’s character was constantly talking. Donny bowls only strikes the entire movie, the only exception being the scene before he dies of a heart attack.

"Strong men also cry" Big 'L'

David Huddleston as Jeffrey Lebowski, the “Big” Lebowski referred to in the movie’s title, is a wheelchair-bound multi-millionaire who is married to Bunny and is Maude’s father by his late wife. He lost the use of his legs in Korea and seems to despise the Dude, whom he calls “a bum”.

Julianne Moore as Maude Lebowski, the Big Lebowski’s daughter. She is a feminist and an avant-garde artist whose work “has been commended as being strongly vaginal”. She is good friends with video artist Knox Harrington (David Thewlis), and is possibly the person who introduced Bunny to Uli Kunkel (Peter Stormare), the nihilist, porn star, new wave musician and would-be kidnapper.

Tara Reid as Bunny Lebowski; born Fawn Knutsen, she is the Big Lebowski’s “trophy wife”. She ran away from her family’s farm in Moorhead, Minnesota and soon found herself making pornographic videos (such as Logjammin’) under the name “Bunny LaJoya”. According to Reid, Charlize Theron tried out for the role of Bunny.

Philip Seymour Hoffman as Brandt, a sycophant and loyal assistant to the Big Lebowski, who tries to please everyone. Hoffman auditioned for the film and had to do the scene where Brandt shows the Dude around Jeffrey Lebowski’s office.

John Turturro as Jesus Quintana, an opponent of the Dude’s and Walter’s team in the bowling league semifinals match. This eccentric, Latino, trash-talking North Hollywood resident speaks with a thick Cuban-American accent, and often refers to himself in the third person, insisting on the English pronunciation of his name rather than the Spanish. “The Jesus”, as he refers to himself, is a pederast and generally creepy pervert who did six months in Chino for exposing himself to an 8-year old, according to Walter. Turturro originally thought that he was going to have a bigger role in the film but when he read the script, he realized that it was much smaller. However, the Coen brothers let him come up with a lot of his own ideas for the character, like shining the bowling ball and the scene where he dances backwards, which he says was inspired by Muhammad Ali.

The Big Lebowski: Are you surprised at my tears, sir?
The Dude: Dude, f@%*in’ A!
The Big Lebowski: Strong men also cry… strong men also cry.

TIME Man-of-the-Year: The Dude

This film is funny. I mean, really funny. Not quite sure how the Coen brothers do it, but this stuff is way out there. The casting couldn’t have been better. These characters (misfits) are so entertaining, so original and so quotable. You watch this film once and you’ll find yourself remembering scenes and lines and laughing about them for years to come.

Door-to-door 'associates'.

In all fairness, I must say that (as with most Coen brothers’ films) this one’s geared towards the fellas. It may not prove to be a good ‘date night’ film and is definitely not a ‘family film’. These colorful characters use very colorful language that will offend many. Still, I didn’t find the language used gratuitously – it complimented and revealed character qualities.

"Let it go, man!"

Back to character for a moment. Goodman’s “Walter” has got to be one of the funniest characters ever on film. His range of bowling alley tiraid, to door-to-door associate, to eulogy giver are hilarious. He was so perfect for this role – going from explosive, over-the-top one moment, to quietly apologizing or trying to explain something delicately the next. John Goodman gets big props for his work in this film.

Personally, I’m not a huge Jeff Bridges fan but thought that he nailed this role. I can’t imagine anyone else playing the role of ‘the Dude’. He too, had great moments of range between utter chilled-out, laid back to passionate frustration.

The Coen brothers have really set a stamp on this style of filmmaking with The Big Lebowski. It shares some great qualities with Rasing Arizona, but leans more towards raw, adult situations and a slightly different comedy approach.

[credit: Wikipedia.org]