Once again the Coen brothers produce an outrageous movie: The Big Lebowski. The movie is cast flawlessly for the unique characters appearing on the silver screen. Sam Elliot narrates certain parts of the move but the “big three” actors John Goodman, Jeff Bridges, and Steve Buscemi in each of their roles have a certain je ne sais quoi about them that is lacking in most dark comedies. Goodman’s portrayal of Walter, the Vietnam vet with a short fuse is a riot. Jeff Bridges takes a break from his customary serious persona to portray The Dude, a character who is quite possibly the laziest [person] in Los Angeles county and Steve Buscemi is as entertaining as ever in his depiction of Donny, the guy who rarely speaks. The cameo by John Turturro as “the Jesus,” king of the bowling alley, puts the movie over the top.
The Coen brothers created an odd array of marginalized characters that fall ass-backwards into center of an improbable situation. The Dude is an unlikely hero living in the city of Los Angeles who becomes embroiled in a dilatant’s kidnapping. Be advised that The Big Lebowski is not your average “zany” kidnapper comedy thrust upon us a thousand times before. The Coen brothers take a fresh look at this old tired story. The story they have created is intriguing and entertaining, while the unique characters and subtle (but hilarious) dialog set the movie apart.
Although Bridges and Buscemi do an exceptional job of becoming their characters, Goodman steals the show in my opinion. An early scene, for instance, involves a conversation about The Dude’s urine stained rug; it becomes clear that Walter is losing his mind. In the early part of the conversation Goodman puts on a stone face to show that Walter is steadfastly tied to his position. The Dude begins to agitate Walter as the conversation about the rug continues. As Walter becomes more and more frantic he starts to furrow his brow, leaning forward when talking and turning increasingly redder. As Goodman continues, his speaking becomes more staccato and flustered. When The Dude refers to one of his attackers as “the China man,” Walter continues on his tirade then for a moment quietly addresses The Dude’s politically incorrect statement. Changing from this erratic manner of speaking to the more politically correct and toned down discussion clearly shows that Walter is carrying around some serious baggage leading to sudden mood swings and a short fuse as he returns to his rant quickly. Not long after his conversation with The Dude about the rug, Walter pulls a gun on a bowling league opponent for crossing the line and then trying to score 8 points because “nobody respects the rules anymore.”
The movie starts in a bowling alley where Donny, Walter, and The Dude are sitting at their lane discussing a mistaken attack on The Dude by some hired thugs who urinated on his rug. The Dude is approaching the situation in a lackadaisical way but is by no means your average confused old stoner. Bridge’s expressions during this scene show that The Dude is actually quite anxious about the loss of the rug “which really tied the room together.” This brain trust concludes that since these thugs were after another wealthy person named Lebowski, The Dude should be compensated by him for the rug. Thus the adventure begins.
On a side note, A.N., a friend of mine, found out I was reviewing the Big Lebowski, she said that the first time she watched it she didn’t like it, “the movie had been over hyped and I was expecting something that was overtly funny.” When she sat down to watch it again and actually paid attention to the subtle (and not so subtle) humor she “loved it.” We continued our conversation trying to decide which clips to post and were overwhelmed by choices. Knowing we had to narrow it down, as you can see, these are the ones we thought of.
You would be a fool not to watch this movie.
J.P.'s I'm Outta Here Movie Thoughts 