Mark that as an eight.

Rating: 8/10 (3 July 2008)

It is a director's movie and again, the Coen brothers manage to leave their idiosyncratic stamp on this movie. Mostly intriguing, but sometimes weird, the Coens allow another story to unravel in a psuedorealistic world that they create in so many of their movies. Looking back at this movies as a whole, it seems like a rather mediocre product with crumbling storyline. However, if you have watched the Coens enough, you would know that they are more likely to deliver instantaneous gratification while watching a movie than give memorable product to be remembered later. So, while some subplots in the Big Lebowski stick out like a sore thumb, the movie succeeds in entertaining with some genuinely hilarious scenes. There are moments where sheer brilliance radiates from the scene construction and it is for these moments the movie has to be watched. In my early days as a Coens fan, I have made the mistake of trying to overthink their movies. It is mistake because retrospectively their movies may appear ordinary, but at the time of viewing, the Coens amazing audaciousness holds together. It may be viewed as a victory of style over substance, but it really is an effort to choose entertainment over reality. I did not take much home from Lebowski, neither did I think it was a perfect storyline, but it was thoroughly entertaining. And sometimes, that is all you need.