My Favorite Movies: The Big Lebowski (One Year Anniversary Review)

Well, I can’t believe it’s been a year since I started this blog. It’s been one hell of a ride, that’s for sure. However, I did most of these celebrations and such when I did that 50^th review special on that movie about the tire, so there’s really no point in repeating myself. BUT, this does present an opportunity to explain a new plan I have going down, one that I will actually go through with keeping up, unlike the Civil War Countdown and X-Files reviews.

I’m planning that for each yearly anniversary of my creation of the blog, I will watch and review one of my top ten list in an in-depth way, like how I reviewed the James Bond series.  These are the big movies that I’ve always loved, and have held as the best of the best, no matter the occasion. Some of them, I’ve already reviewed, and if I run out of movies, I’ll find something else, but as for now, this is what I’m doing. And what better movie to start on then The Big Lebowski.

Everyone pretty much already knows about The Big Lebowski. This Joel and Ethan Coen picture has gained large amounts of cult followings and fans from every corner of the globe (I can’t think of many other films that have earned their own convention). Some people question if it’s worth all that, and very few disagree with all the hype. I’m not really one of them. In fact, when people ask me what my favorite movie is, I usually tell them it’s this. I love their reactions. Then again, I love the odd aspect of this movie, the fucked up plot, the totally crazy characters. It’s such a masterpiece in my eyes.

The movie starts out with a narration by the unnamed Stranger (Sam Elliot), introducing the story and our main character, Jeffery, “The Dude,” Lebowski (Jeff Bridges). The Dude checks out a carton of milk at a grocery store and makes his way home. When he enters, he’s immediately attacked by a pair of goons, one of which pushes him into his bathroom and attempts to drown him in his toilet, while asking, “Where’s the money, Lebowski?” The Dude is obviously confused, and it turns out that the goons mistook him for another Jeffery Lebowski. After peeing on The Dude’s rug, the goons leave. An infuriated Dude then goes bowling with his teammates Walter Sobchak (John Goodman) and Donny Kerbatsos (Steve Buscemi). The Dude’s story about the goons highly angers the short-tempered Vietnam vet Walter, who recommends that the Dude finds the other Lebowski and ask for compensation as to the Dude’s damaged rug.

The Dude travels to Lebowski’s mansion in Pasadena, where Brandt (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) introduces him to Jeff Lebowski (David Huddleston), a millionaire cripple who runs various charity organizations for children. Lebowski seems to be furious and confused by The Dude’s demand for a new rug, asking if he should compensate for every time someone’s rug is urinated upon. The Dude leaves as Lebowski starts going on a rant about how The Dude is no more than a bum, and he tells Brandt that he could take any rug in the house upon Lebowski’s orders. Later at the bowling alley, Dude tells Walter and Donny about how it all went, until Walter calls out a fellow bowler for stepping over the line. Walter threatens the bowler with his gun to mark his roll as null, and when he does, they leave, with the Dude freaking out at Walter for pulling his piece out on the lane.

The next day, the Dude gets a call from Brandt, who demands him to come to Lebowski’s mansion immediately. Upon arrival, a disheveled Lebowski informs The Dude that his wife, Bunny (Tara Reid) has been presumably kidnapped, with a ransom of one million dollars. He and Brandt place the task of being a middleman to bring the ransom to the kidnappers, with the possibly pay of $20,000 to the Dude. He accepts, and back at the bowling alley, he tells the guys about the deal. Walter seems skeptic of the ordeal, but loosens to the idea of the twenty grand payout. Their talk is interrupted by Jesus Quintana (John Tuturro), a rival bowler and convicted pederast, who threatens that he will win in their game next week, spitting that, “Nobody fucks with the Jesus.” Later that day, The Dude is relaxing at home, when he opens his eyes to see a woman and two men standing above him. One of the men punches and knocks the Dude out, sending him on a short dream sequence where he’s flying over LA and gets trapped in a bowling ball. He wakes up to find his new rug gone, and the Lebowski-provided beeper beeping. This is where the movie takes its most dark and twisted turn.

The Dude is sent off to hand over the briefcase, alone, to the kidnappers. So, naturally, he goes to get Walter, who has brought alone a ringer to act as the briefcase (but is actually filled with his dirty laundry) as well as a wrapped machine gun. Walter tells Dude his crazy idea of giving the ringer to the kidnappers, and then fighting with them to get his laundry back. This goes terribly wrong, as there turns out to not be an actual hand off, rather that The Dude and Walter are supposed to throw the package off the a bridge. Walter throws the Ringer off and dives out of the car, dropping the machine gun, which starts going off, shooting The Dude’s car’s tire. The Dude frantically attempts running after the fleeing kidnappers to no avail. Later at the bowling alley, The Dude goes off on Walter for messing up the situation, all while the mobile phone provided to him by Lebowski keeps on ringing. Walter, however, seems more interested in talking about how the next game is scheduled on the Jewish day of rest, so The Dude storms off, only to find his car has disappeared outside.

The next day, Dude gets a call from a Maude Lebowski (Julianne Moore) who informs him that she stole his rug. Upon visiting Maude, she explains to the Dude that she used to be a porn star, and guesstimates that she may have gotten herself kidnapped so she could get more money out of her father, Jeffery Lebowski. When Dude arrives home, he is forced into Lebowski’s limo, where he asks The Dude why the kidnappers claim they haven’t gotten more money. Dude explains to Lebowski about the possibility that she kidnapped herself, but Lebowski refuses to buy it, showing the Dude a toe which they have received in the mail, presumably being Bunny’s. Later that night, a group of Nihilists led by Uli (Peter Stormare) confront the Dude, revealing that they are the kidnappers. They claim that if the Dude does not provide them the money they asked for, they will cut off his penis.

The Dude manages to get his car back, however, the briefcase of money is no longer inside. Maude calls him up again for a visit, where she explains that Uli was an old friend and fellow porn star with Bunny, further proving her thought that Bunny just kidnapped herself. She tells The Dude to visit a doctor to check up on the jaw that her goon punched to knock him out in days prior. On the way home, Dude finds a leftover history paper of a certain Larry Sellers, who was obviously the boy to stole his car in the first place. He and Walter go to Larry’s house to question him, where they find a new Corvette sitting outside. Larry seems to be pulling a quiet movement, not telling the two anything. Walter reacts by taking a crowbar to the Corvette, assuming it’s Larry’s car which he bought using the briefcase of money in the car. However, that’s not the case, as the original owner comes out, snatches the crowbar out of Walter’s hand, and attacking Dude’s car with it. When the Dude gets home, feeling down and tired of everything, he’s taken to Jackie Treehorn, a famous porn producer, who wants to know where the ransom money is. Dude tries to tell him that Larry has the money, but he doesn’t believe it, spiking his drink, causing him to have another dream sequence where he’s a bowling porn star, courting Maude. When he gets home, Maude seduces him and uses him to conceive a child. Afterwards, she tells him that her father truly has no money at all, which gives Dude an epiphany that all this was a set up.

He and Walter drive to the Lebowski mansion to find that Bunny has returned, claiming she went to visit some friends in a nearby city with no warning. When they talk to Lebowski, they figure out that he truly didn’t want her back, giving them a fake briefcase and hoping that they would fuck up the deal so she wouldn’t come back. Finally feeling free of everything, they go bowling, where the Nihilists confront them one last time. They have a short fight, where Walter and The Dude manage to make the Nihilists run off, finding that Donny has suffered a heart attack in the meantime. They cremate him and spread his ashes, and the movie ends much like the beginning, with the Stranger meeting with the Dude, and confining in the audience that everything went well afterwards.

This movie really is just the greatest, and I’ve never really been able to explain why. Somehow, my explanations get lost in the strangeness of the plot, the realistic woes of the characters, and the endlessly quotable lines, but honestly, they all wrap together into creating one of the defining films of the last twenty years. If this movie isn’t already regarded as a classic, it will be in the future, there’s no doubting it at all.

I suppose, to break it down, first things first is the fantastic direction and cinematography done by the Coens and co. The only way I can really describe it is that it doesn’t look at all like it’s fake or too saturated, yet there are various colors which represent certain aspects as well as perfectly brighten up the film when need be. Not to mention the fantastic script, as well as interesting and quirky little tidbits about the film which you end up noticing after numerous rewatches. However, the biggest and greatest part about this film is the cast. Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Julianne Moore, they’re all just fucking fantastic, with such a great chemistry and on-screen presence. It truly looked like they all had fun making this movie, and yet, none of them deliver their lines with a sense of, “What the fuck am I reading?” No, they all provide such stellar performances the whole way through, which makes this movie all the more spectacular.

So, would you call me a Lebowski achiever? You’re damn right I am one. I will boldly claim that this movie is probably one of the best movies of all time, one of the defining movies of the 20^th century, and so much more. If you’ve never seen The Big Lebowski, then you at least need to see it once, just to know what’s going on. I’m not even saying you have to become a hardcore fan like me, you just have to see this movie once in your lifetime. It’s an experience. 5 out of 5 stars definitely.

The Dude abides.