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The Big Lebowski

The Big Lebowski

List Price: $14.98
Your Price: $11.24
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Classic Coen shaggy dog story.
Review: I'm a dedicated Coen fan, and I must confess it took a little time for this one to grow on me, but it's an instant classic. The characters are well-drawn and memorable, and John Goodman is an utter comedic gem in a role written expressly with him in mind.

The language is a bit, er, extreme -- I have a download of the movie script and it averages five occurrences of the "F" word on each and every page. Still, who can resist a bunch of bowlers who speak in the vocabulary of college professors? This is a device the Coens employed to wonderful effect in "Raising Arizona" and "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" (except those involved hicks speaking like college professors) -- and it's used to its full potential here.

See this movie. Soon enough you'll be speaking in "Big Lebowski" lines as we so often do at my house: "World of pain." "Donny, you're out of your league!" "They're nihilists, man. They believe in nothing!" "D'you have to use so many cuss words?" "Don't be fatuous, Jeffrey."

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Coen Brothers, Bridges, Goodman, Buscemi -- 'nuff said
Review: Another great Coen Brothers movie. Jeff Bridges is "the dude", an itinerant slacker whose principal interests are bowling and smoking pot. Comic hijinks ensue when the dude is mistaken by thugs for a wealthy scion who shares his name -- Lebowski. John Goodman shines as Bridges' sidekick "Walter", a Vietnam vet who interprets everything that happens to him in terms of his Vietnam experience.

Super-high rewatchability makes owning this movie an easy decision.

...by the same guys who did Fargo, Blood Simple, and Barton Fink.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: My favorite movie ever
Review: I thought I was the only one that noticed the 9/11/91 check detail... I've seen this movie a thousand times & still laugh. Not for the easily offended..This movie is hysterical!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A film for it's time
Review: The Big Lebowski provides further proof (as if it was needed) that the Cohen's are masters of film design and execution. Case in point: the script. At one point, The Dude, completely smashed, comments that "Mr. Treehorn treats objects like women"-a line that can use multiple going-overs. Other scenes feature a marmot in a bathtub, cameras used in the wholes of a bowling ball, a malfunctioning submachine gun, and no end of vehicular damage.

The camera work is equally impressive. From the "Gutter Balls" dream sequence to the introduction of Jesus, the sex offender, a wistful, surreal quality permeates the film-especially when combined with the music. The gothic chanting and the Latin dance tune both fit their respective scene perfectly.

The plot is simple, revolving around The Dude, a bowler whose current major problem is that the rug that tied the room together has been despoiled, and he wants to get it replaced. It's simplicity is effective; it works well.

However, it does have one fault. The end of the film sort of leaves many plot threads lying there. The entire film was filled with people asking what had happened to the money, and yet the end of the film makes us wonder the same thing-it's never really established.

But that's the only problem. Bottom line: If you're looking for something serious, in Fargo's vein, this isn't quite what you need. On the other hand, if you like a film with crazy camera angles, suitable music, and Saddam Husein passing out bowling shoes, then enjoy.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Uncanny and prophetic 9/11 reference in the Big L
Review: The Big Lebowski is by far my favorite film EVER, which is why i have memorized pretty much every single detail in the film -- has anyone else noticed that at the beginning of the film in the superette scene, the Dude writes a check for 69 cents and signs it September 11, 1991 --exactly 10 years to the day--while the checkout chick is watching George Bush Sr on television talking about the war with Iraq? "This agression will not stand".. Pretty uncanny and unnerving connection. At any rate, The Big Lebowski is an absolute MUST SEE.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: That is not right, dude...
Review: The Dude (Jeff Bridges), who is on constant R and R mode, comes home one day after minimal grocery shopping when he is jumped by two thugs who want to force him to pay them a hefty ransom for his release. However, the whole ordeal seems to be a mix up due to the Dude's last name Lebowski. The Dude's bowling friends Walter (John Goodman) and Donny (Steve Buscemi) recommend that he seeks compensation for the assault that resulted in they thugs peeing on the Dude's rug. This leads to an adventure for the Dude which involves violence, extortion, and conception. The Big Lebowski provides an entertaining and stimulating experience that causes laughs and pondering.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Lotta strands in the Duders head......
Review: The Dude abides, my friends, and aren't you glad he's out there?

What a mystery today would look like if Raymond Chandler was writing on Orange Sunshine. Following on their acclaimed hit, Fargo, the Coens, known for strange and offbeat films, on this outing went totally surreally weird. I confess I overlooked this film initially, despite being a Coen fan, but now I absolutely love it in all its idiosyncratic nuttiness. Worthy of multiple viewings just to savor the throwaway lines and the marvelously bizarre cameos by the Coen's repertory company (Buscemi, Turturro, Polito, Sormare etc.) and the drop-ins (Huddleston, Tara Reid, Gazzara, Moore & a wonderful Sam Elliott).

The plot, if you think one is necessary, has to do with The Dude (Jeff Bridges), an unreconstructed 60's throwback named Jeff Lebowski, being mistaken for a different, much richer Lebowski, and after being assaulted, his rug micturated upon and stolen (it ties the rooms together, man), begins a labyrinthine pursuit of the kidnapped wife of the Big Lebowski. Which of course, has nothing to do with the pleasures of this picture, which are the sidetrips and the characters, the asides, and the stuff thrown in just because its funny!

Jeff Bridges is perfect as The Dude. He knows this guy and he is this guy. The perfect foil to The Dude is John Goodman's Walter, a Viet Nam vet that's a seething mix of outward calm combined with an explosive temper and a penchant for wrong assumptions. These guys are great together.

Anyway, delineation and explanation is just plain silly for this movie. Just hop on and enjoy the ride and revel in the fact that the kitchen sink will come flying through at any moment. There is a complete logic to this kaleidescope, but who cares? Stay out of Malibu, Dude! And don't forget to go find a cash machine!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Non-Coen Bros. fans beware!
Review: Just because the characters are quirky and interesting doesn't mean the movie is funny or good. The character Jesus' potential was totally wasted. He could have been the funniest character but instead his lines fell flat and were boring. The plot was boring. The drug-tripping scene broke the continuity of the story. Any time a movie goer is suddenly reminded they are watching a movie, the movie has failed, and that's what the tripping scene did for me. Fargo was ten times the movie this was. I will concede that if you're a Coen Brothers fan, then you will probably enjoy this. But if you're not, stay away! And do me a favor, don't say this review wasn't helpful just because you like the movie and want to punish me. This review is here for the non-Coen fans who might get hoodwinked into thinking this is a comedy. Which it's not. If you didn't enjoy any of the following, don't watch this one: Raising Arizona, Barton Fink, Rushmore, Royal Tennebaums.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: An ordinary guy with big problems
Review: A millionaire's young wife is supposedly kidnapped. And it just so happens that the millionaire shares the same name with The Dude. Two thug's break into The Dude's house and ruin his favorite carpet... what can you say? They had the wrong Lebowski. So the dude tries to get his carpet replaced (because it really tied the room together, afterall) and embarks on a wild journey with his paranoid best friend, euro-trash anarchists, an erotic artist, and an eccentric Latino bowler.

The story itself is pretty arbitrary... it's the oddball cast of characters that really makes the movie so chraming. It stars Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Julianne Moore, and Steve Buscemi. The characters are quirky and very loveable. The dialogue is witty but not for the faint of heart. And the DVD comes in both standard and widescreen formats. This is among one of my favorite movies.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The dude abides
Review: Perhaps one of the greatest movies of it's time, it is definitely worth the [money]
Buy it. Watch it. Rewatch it. And then again, and so on. The cast is so well choosen for each individual role... especially the Dude. Normally Jeff Bridges is sort of bland, but this is Oscar-worthy, that is if the committe wasnt a bunch of hard [noses]


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