The Big Lebowski

Rating:
Summary: Like others, I hated it at first, now loving it.
Review: I suppose the thing that sold me for a second viewing was the ash spreading on the cliff. Watching the ever-so-still Lebowski take it all over the place. I fell off my seat. I rented it, then bought it after a few rentals. Every time I watch the movie, I catch a line or two I hadn't before that makes me lose it. From:

Hell, I can get you a toe by 3 o'clock this afternoon--with nail polish

to:

The Dude: And, you know, he's got emotional problems, man.
Walter Sobchak: You mean... beyond pacifism?

In any case, I totally recommend this flick.

Rating:
Summary: Best Coen Movie
Review: This is the best coen movie to date. The humor is creative, and witty, with some of the best charcters i have ever seen in a movie. A must own.

Rating:
Summary: #1 in my collection
Review: Witty, outrageous, original - comedy doesn't get much better than this. The Cohen brothers really outdid themselves with this insane group of characters. The casting might be called perfect, because each part was written specifically for the actor that played it. This is a must have for all comedy fans!

Rating:
Summary: Is this a comedy?
Review: "The Big Lebowski" is about characters whose identities are just facades for little-boy bickering. Or perhaps I completely misinterpreted the message and gave this movie two stars for no reason.

I watched "The Big Lebowski" on the sole basis of Roger Ebert's review, because the phrase "that rug really tied the room together" brought a smile to my face. "The Dude," the main character, really does say the line - in every scene starting with the very first. The line becomes a running gag throughout the movie, generously peppered with "f***" and its various inflections. That also might have been funny, had the filmmakers focused on the fact that profanity was the only way the vocabulary-challenged characters could lend weight to their words. But no. The film simply goes on, effortlessly and without engaging the audience, until it is finally over and the viewer begins wondering what exactly he just saw and why.

The plot is really just an excuse for the numerous character vignettes: in the first scene, "The Dude" Lebowski (Bridges) is introduced. He is mistaken by the local pornographer's thugs for the Millionaire Lebowki, whose wife apparently owes money around town. The thugs beat the Dude up and urinate on his rug, and therein lies the Dude's motivation to stay in the movie. The Dude is a fairly good character, lazy, and unperturbed, yet practical, but the film does so little with him that he quickly becomes an eyesore.

In the followin scenes, the Dude's bowling buddies, Walter and Danny (Buscemi), are introduced. Danny is a cipher, short and simple. Walter (Goodman) tries to take control of every situation by the virtue of his powerful lungs. He also curses a lot. Danny later dies of a heart attack, so that the wind can later blow his cremated remains in the Dude's face.

The Dude visits the real Lebowski, a wheelchair-bound millionaire who thinks too much of himself, and steals one of his rugs. We learn that Lebowski's trophy wife, Bunny, has been kidnapped, and the Dude is in charge of delivering the ransom. Soon, thanks to Walter's meddling, the two end up without the money and with everyone after them.

Strangest of all, I left with the impression that this film is fertile ground for a message. Any sort of message. "The Big Lebowski" has all the right ingredients, all it really needs is some seeds of commentary, cynicism, comedy, sarcasm, anything, really, and it would be a fantastic film. As it is, it dies on the screen. I literally evaluated every scene to see whether there was anything in it worth laughing at. I doubt I fulfilled my mental quota (though, in any case, the very fact that the movie generates such an attitude is hardly a compliment).

There are two good scenes in the movie, however, both dreram sequences: in one, Lebowski soars through the air after theives flying away on his carpet; in another, he dreams of a bowling musical, complete with bowling pin dancers and a valkyrie.

Rating:
Summary: Made me laugh to beat the band
Review: This is my favorite movie ever. There's never been another film that I could just watch over and over like this one. John Goodman should have won (or at least been nominated for!) best supporting actor. I have a feeling that after the more "accessible" Fargo, the Academy simply didn't get this one. Phillip Seymore Hoffman (Brandt) is a genious character actor, and this is one of his greatest roles.

Didn't like seein' Donnie go.

Rating:
Summary: Simply Hilarious
Review: I can watch this movie over and over again. So many classic scenes. What makes this movie even funnier is that probably every character in it is based on an actual person living right now in California. Don't worry about the significance of the plot...just sit back and watch the pure comedic genius as Jeff Bridges and Co. explore the possiblilites of what can happen when perfectly innocent morons start to make plans.

Rating:
Summary: I'm the Dude, You're Mr. Lebowski
Review: This is the story of The Dude. The Dude, Jeff Lebowski, is an unemployed, occasional drug taking loser whose life revolves around bowling with his best friend Walter. Walter is a Vietnam vet who tries to literally relate everything to Vietnam. One day the Dude's rug (the one that tied the room together) is ruined by 2 cronies who think he's Mr. Lebowski. (the other Lebowski, the big one). The story just gets zanier (and funnier) from here. Amazing how such an odd moive could revolve around bowling but it works here. John Goodman plays his Walter character perfectly as does Jeff Daniels as The Dude. This movie isn't so much a plot as much as a vehicle to display these zany characters the Coen brothers have made and it works perfectly. Easily one of the best comedies of the 90s.

Rating:
Summary: The Coen Brother's Best Film...By a Long Shot
Review: Once again I don't understand the Critics when it comes to comedy. Maltin did not even bother to get the plot correct in his review. The characters are what makes this movie, but the plot is no slouch either. Once caveat though: you must watch this movie several times. On my first viewing I was not that impressed, but the more I watch it the better it gets. In that way I guess you could say it is like Shakespeare, because you come away with something new from it every time. Okay, maybe I went to far on that one, but the bottom line is: If you have a DVD player you are morally, spiritually, and fiscally obligated to buy this film; it is just that good.

Rating:
Summary: great movie
Review: This movie has a real cult following. If you are are familiar with Cohen brothers movies, you won't be dissapointed. The brothers throw the main characters a zany and completely unlikely situation to deal with, and the movie is about the interplay between them. The acting is excellent: Jeff Bridges is the perfect over-the-hill hipster. John Goodman is the perfect flashback-ridden vietnam vet. Steve Buscemi is the perfect aging spaced-out beachboy surfer. Just when you think things are crazy, the movie pushes even further into hyperbole, a-la Fargo. Definitely worth having around to watch many times.

Rating:
Summary: Cinematic perfection
Review: Who would have thought that a movie about bowlers would attain any level of cinematic greatness, much less perfection?

The Big Lebowski will do down in history as a classic film of our time period. It's flawlessly executed, full of wit, wisdom, and beauty, and it's as timely as it is timeless.

I've seen this movie probably twenty times since its release, and it never bores or disappoints, and it never fails to get me laughing. The Cohen brothers are the only folks out there who understand that the best use of John Goodman is as a dark character. And Jeff Bridges is fantastic as a potsmoking, white russian drinking slacker from the mid eighties.

This is one movie that no film collection should be without.