THE BIG LEBOWSKI, 1998

Directed by The Coen Brothers
Starring: Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Julianne Moore, David Huddleston, Philip Seymour Hoffman

Synopsis : Two thugs mistake Jeff "the Dude" Lebowski for a millionnaire called Jeffrey Lebowski. Before realising their mistake one of them pees on the Dude's rug because the wife of the millionnaire owes somebody some money which they have been sent to collect. The thugs leave and the Dude is pissed off about the rug because 'it really held the room together'. So he decides to find the rich Lebowski and complain. His decision sets in motion a chain of absurd events that culminate in kidnap, extortion and madcap comedy.

I saw this film when it opened but the boyfriend at the time just didn't get it – he couldn't understand what I was laughing at and why I thought the film was wonderful. Unfortunately, at first most people reacted like my boyfriend (which he thought, stupid git, vindicated him somehow). A few people (with frayed sensibilities) got the joke at the time but the film did poorly at the box office. We 'Believers' feel vindicated today. The movie has grown in popularity and achieved a cult status. There are conventions held in its honor.

My boyfriend didn't make it though '98 with me. He's history – the Dude abides.

It all starts in a desert with a western tune in the background and it has the feel of a cowboy film. The camera follows a tumble weed as it rolls over a cliff, down into Los Angeles and meanders to sea. Sam Elliott narrates the first lines :

The Stranger: [voiceover] Way out west there was this fella I wanna tell ya about. Goes by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least that was the handle his loving parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. See, this Lebowski, he called himself "The Dude". Now, "Dude" - there's a name no man would self-apply where I come from. But then there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place so darned interestin'. See, they call Los Angeles the "City Of Angels"; but I didn't find it to be that, exactly. But I'll allow it as there are some nice folks there. 'Course I ain't never been to London, and I ain't never seen France. And I ain't never seen no queen in her damned undies, so the feller says. But I'll tell you what - after seeing Los Angeles, and this here story I'm about to unfold, well, I guess I seen somethin' every bit as stupefyin' as you'd seen in any of them other places. And in English, too. So I can die with a smile on my face, without feelin' like the good Lord gypped me. Now this here story I'm about to unfold took place in the early '90s - just about the time of our conflict with Sad'm and the I-raqis. I only mention it because sometimes there's a man... I won't say a hero, 'cause, what's a hero? Sometimes, there's a man. And I'm talkin' about the Dude here - the Dude from Los Angeles. Sometimes, there's a man, well, he's the man for his time and place. He fits right in there. And that's the Dude. The Dude, from Los Angeles. And even if he's a lazy man - and the Dude was most certainly that. Quite possibly the laziest in all of Los Angeles County, which would place him high in the runnin' for laziest worldwide. Sometimes there's a man, sometimes, there's a man. Well, I lost my train of thought here. But... aw, hell. I've done introduced it enough. 

The opening lines take us to Ralph's Bar where we meet the hero "Dude" (Jeff Bridges). His rumpled look and relaxed manner suggest a man in whom casualness runs deep as he writes a .69 cent check to pay for a jug of milk to make white Russians. But cowboys were the original anti-heroes and The Coens seem to say this is our rebel hero circa early 90’s, around the time of Gulf War I, fallen on hard times.

He takes his milk home - where the thugs await him. they stuff his head in a toilet and pee on his rug. They tell him that his wife owes the pornographer, Jackie Treehorn, money. The Dude explains that they have clearly mistaken him for someone else - the rich Jeffrey Lebowski. Later, his bowling buddy, Walter (John Goodman) encourages him to go and complain to the 'big' Lebowski (David Huddlestone).

"The Dude" goes to Lebowski's mansion. Seemingly a pillar of society, the great man is in a wheel chair, having lost the use of his legs in the Korean War. Meanwhile, Bunny, his trophy wife, owes money to lots of people. But the 'Big' Lebowski fails to see any connection between his wife's activities and the Dude's ruined rug. His tells the Dude "get a job, sir! Your revolution is over, condolences, Mr. Lebowski! The bums lost! The bums will always lose!" The Dude leaves, but not before conning a rug from Lebowski's secretary Brandt (Philip Seymour Hoffman).

The next day the 'Big' Lebowski gets news that his wife, Bunny (Tara Reid) has been kidnapped and a ransom of $1m is demanded. He hires the Dude to act as a go-between with the kidnappers. But something is fishy. The Dude suspects that maybe she kidnapped herself. Then his new rug is stolen back by the 'Big' Lebowski's daughter Maude (Julianne Moore) who convinces the Dude that her father is behind the kidnapping.

Bowling buddy Walter agrees with the Dude's suspicions. They take a bag of dirty laundry and an Uzi sub-machine gun to an agreed money drop. Naturally, things go wrong. The Dude's car is stolen along with the real money bag. Now he's lost $1m and three lots of people are after him - and he only went out to get some milk so that he could make White Russians.

The film is about a peaceful guy who enjoys his bowling, his buddies and his dope. It is also a film of intense jubilation. Three years after the exciting "Fargo" the Coen brothers produced this masterpiece of perfectly controlled delirium which has an incredible freedom of tone. Jeff Lebowski aka "Dude" is a layabout. He elevates laziness to art form. He's unemployed, drinks lots of beer and white Russian and is an inveterate smoker of marijuana. His waking moments are shared between naps and bowling with his pals Walter and Donny and he makes it all so cool.

THE BIG LEBOWSKI: What makes a man, Mr. Lebowski? 
THE DUDE: Dude. 
THE BIG LEBOWSKI: Huh? 
THE DUDE: Uhh... I don't know sir. 
THE BIG LEBOWSKI: Is it being prepared to do the right thing, whatever the cost? Isn't that what makes a man? 
THE DUDE: Hmmm... Sure, that and a pair of testicles.

*****************************************************

THE BIG LEBOWSKI: Are you employed, sir? 
THE DUDE: Employed? 
THE BIG LEBOWSKI: You don't go out looking for a job dressed like that? On a weekday? 
THE DUDE: Is this a... what day is this? 
THE BOG LEBOWSKI: Well, I do work sir, so if you don't mind... 
THE DUDE: I do mind, the Dude minds. This will not stand,

          ya know, this aggression will not stand, man.

*****************************************************

MAUDE LEBOWSKI: What do you do for recreation? 
THE DUDE: Oh, the usual. I bowl. Drive around. The occasional acid flashback.

*****************************************************

WALTER SOBCHACK: You want a toe? I can get you a toe, believe me. There are ways, Dude. You don't wanna know about it, believe me. 
THE DUDE: Yeah, but Walter... 
WALTER SOBCHACK: Hell, I can get you a toe by 3 o'clock this afternoon... with nail polish. These fucking amateurs...

The film unravels without any apparent logic, the sequences are in turn absurd, cheeky and full of the Coens' trademark inventiveness. The pleasure that the brothers feel in exposing the stupidity of their characters is tangible. It is as though we walk through huge set of images which form a puzzle that is somehow both complex and obvious at the same time. The most mundane situations slip out of control producing a fragmented story which is completely unpredictable and thus all the more enjoyable for the viewer who is drawn in as a curious accomplice.

Then there are the Dudes' dreams and nightmares by means of which the film leads us through fantasy sequences populated by beautiful woman and bowling balls, as kitsch as you could ever hope for and absolutely wonderful. Another very effective technique used in this constantly surprising film is the use of a entirely secondary character who narrates for us all Dudes' misadventures.

It's as though the actors are in an absurd, abstract game of bowls as constructed by the Coen brothers. Everything from the screenplay to the musical interpretation and the virtuoso staging of Joel Coen makes "The Big Lebowski" an absurd and enjoyable comedy, a pure delight in the same vein as "Fargo" (a bit more crazy maybe). Also found in this film are themes that the Coens first visited in "Blood Simple" in 1984 - charm, confusion of identity, criminal acts, suspicion, duplicity ...

The Coen brothers' vision of delirium is heightened by the work of actors who put their hearts and souls into creating the colourful characters of the narrative.

The script : this is original and very smart - read freely it here.

What I love most about the script is how the Coen’s take fresh strands of Americana, pull them to the surface, and fashion stories from them.

Is there another movie that is largely set in a bowling alley ? And Sobchak’s obsession with Viet-Nam, with unchecked aggression, even as he pulls a gun on a fellow bowler, is hilarious and spot on. These characters seem fresh and so real that you feel they come straight from the evening news.

Above all this is a buddy film – Jeff and Walter and Donny 'the bowlers' vs. the corrupt rich, the pornographers and the German nihilists, who threaten to cut off the dude’s johnson.

The big Lebowski's daughter, Maude is a bit of a flake but good and honest nevertheless. She asks the Dude to sire her child based solely on his disinterest in being a father – the Dude gets it of course.

But if bowling was all there was at stake that would be enough. The bowlers for all their faults take life in their stride, without malice and with open hearts. by contrast, their enemies are serious and money hungry.The Dude is the rebel anti-hero, a foil to the greedy, a foil to the heartless and a friend to good humour everywhere. We are glad in the end that he is there "taking it easy for all us sinners".

• It’s a very wise and soulful movie in the end
• It has not aged
• It’s as funny as ever
• "The dude abides"

Everything is Illuminated - "leave normal behind" (with dialogue transcript)

Slumdog Millionaire - "love and money - you have mixed them both" (with full screenplay)

Duel - "a duel is about to begin between a man, a truck, and an open road" (with full screenplay and with full film courtesy of Google Videos)