Keep'em coming, Dude!

Rating: 10/10 (15 August 2008)

If Fargo is the highest point in the Coen brothers' filmography, The Big Lebowski comes in a close second: it's a perfect hybrid of fun, mystery, irony and pure insanity, Joel and Ethan's most explicitly entertaining movie since Raising Arizona, and by far more accomplished.
The plot, loosely based on Raymond Chandler's works (the title itself is an obvious pastiche of The Big Sleep), revolves around a former hippie, Jeffrey Lebowski (Jeff Bridges), who insists everyone refer to him as The Dude or, in extreme cases, something like His Dudeness or El Duderino. To call The Dude an underachiever is a euphemism: he's never achieved anything, in fact he spends his days doing nothing besides smoking marijuana, drinking White Russians or bowling with his "friends" Walter (John Goodman), a Vietnam veteran with a life philosophy like no one else, and Donnie (Steve Buscemi), who isn't actually allowed to do much since everyone constantly asks him to "shut the f*ck up" (whereas in Fargo it was impossible to prevent him from talking).
The Dude's quiet existence is radically shaken up when he is assaulted for no reason by two men who even take the liberty of peeing on his rug. As it turns out, they mistook him for another Jeffrey Lebowski, the one mentioned in the title, a wheelchair-bound millionaire whose young wife (Tara Reid) appears to have been kidnapped by a band of Nihilists (led by Peter Stormare). Add a sleazy pornographer (Ben Gazzara), the other Lebowski's artist daughter Maude (Julianne Moore), the mysterious stranger (Sam Elliott) whose voice occasionally comments on the story, a child-molesting bowling champion (John Turturro) named Jesus ("That's right! Nobody f*cks with the Jesus!"), some freaky dream sequences and several mix-ups and it's no longer very surprising that The Dude needs absurd quantities of booze and pot to accept what's happening to him.
As a matter of fact, what happens is actually the least interesting aspect of the film: the noirish premise is nothing but a MacGuffin, a cheap yet brilliant excuse to make all those wonderful characters interact with the Coens' trademark exquisite dialogue, the best lines coming out of Goodman's mouth ("This is what happens when you f*ck a stranger in the ass!"). The fine ensemble cast gives life to a singular group of pederasts, pimps, private investigators and slackers, above whom Bridges towers with a humanity that makes you want to hug him on the spot. The Dude, a revolutionary at heart even when there seems to be nothing left to fight for, is the brothers' most relatable and endearing creation next to Fargo's Marge Gunderson, and it's no surprise: in the twisted Coeniverse, they're as normal as they come.
Overall, pretty much a modern classic, like most of the Coens' films, and, despite its dark streak, a bit of a feel-good movie, thanks to its oddly sweet and charming protagonist. As The Stranger points out: "It's good knowing he's out there, The Dude."