A Brilliant,Hilarious Cult Classic Comedy. The Coen Brothers At Their Best.

Rating: 10/10 (26 June 2013)

The Big Lebowski is an brilliant,hilarious,funny Comedy and a true Cult classic. Filled with great direction,a wonderful cast,fantastic script,memorable characters and a fantastic soundtrack,The Big Lebowski is one of the funniest films of all time and The Coen Brothers at their best.
Set in Los Angeles,California in the early 1990s,The Big Lebowski tells the story of Jeff "The Dude" Lebowski(Jeff Bridges),a stoner from the 1960s who loves getting stoned,Bowling,white Russians,his carpet rug and Creedance Clearwater Revival and lives a pretty normal life. Then one night The Dude is attacked by two thugs who mistake The Dude for millionaire Jeff Lebowski(David Huddleson)and urinate on The Dude's rug. This case of mistaken identity puts The Dude in a tale of intrigue and Mystery where he meets various characters and laughs and chaos Ensue.
The Big Lebowski is one of the best Comedies of all time and is a hilarious film from beginning to end that didn't get much attention at the time. The Big Lebowski came out two years after The Coen Brothers Masterpiece Fargo which was critically acclaimed and won many movie awards and then after The Coen Brothers did Fargo they released The Big Lebowski,which did modest business at the box office and received mixed reviews from critics,most critics seeing The Big Lebowski as a failure compared to Fargo. But since it's release in 1998,The Big Lebowski has become a one of the all time great Cult Films,one of the funniest movies of all time and is now seen as a classic from critics and audiences and one of The Coen Brothers best films. One of the reasons The Big Lebowski is such great movie is that The Coen Brothers have taken the taken the Film-Noir style and influence of Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep(film and novel)and set in Los Angeles in the early 1990s where instead of long coats and a tough detective it's long hair and a stoner. The Comedy and Humor in this film is hilarious and it mostly based on the situations and dialog and the various characters that The Dude meets or comes in contact with and each character The Dude meets gets weirder and stranger and each character that comes in contact with The Dude is unpredictable and surprising. TBL has a Film-Noir influence because the film has intrigue and Mystery but in TBL the intrigue and Mystery is slightly off kilter and it seems like every character in the film including The Dude is messed up in the head and you never know what's going to happen next. It's Film-Noir told from a Stoner's point of view and it's ingenious and original. TBL also has episodic feel to it where the film and it's characters go from one thing to the next and the plot is complex but not hard to understand and it adds to the great outlandish and hilarious tone of the film. The photography by Roger Deakins is beautiful and Surreal and colorful making the Los Angeles city and landscape look amazing and bright and adds to the film's comic tone and greatness. Jeff "The Dude" Lebowski is one of the most iconic characters in the history of film because as soon as comes on the screen The Dude has this great presence and style and you just never forget him. What's also great about The Dude is that he is a slacker and stoner and doesn't care who knows about it and The Dude has a down to earth style all of his own and he doesn't try to be cool he just is. Although not a Private Detective in the traditional sense like Phillip Marrlow or Sam Spade,The Dude evokes the same style as those two great characters as investigates and tries to solve a mystery and the way The Dude deals with characters whether it's his friends or other characters is funny and classic. The Dude is a character that will be remembered forever. The screenplay Joel and Ethan Coen is amazing and well-written with every main character saying hilarious lines and dialog that very quotable and memorable. The ending of the film is funny,tragic and ironic and is a truly classic Coen Brothers ending that adds to the greatness of The Big Lebowski.
The whole cast does great jobs in their roles. Jeff Bridges is excellent and hilarious in his most iconic role as Jeff "The Dude" Lebowski,with Bridges bringing laughs and coolness to the role. John Goodman is brilliant and hilarious as Walter,a Vietnam veteran,who's The Dude's best friend and bowling teammate and Goodman has great scenes and chemistry with Bridges. Julianne Moore is great as Maude Lebowski,a painter and the big Lebowski's daughter. Steve Buscemi is wonderful as Donny,The Dude and Walter's bowling teammate. David Huddleston is fantastic as Jeff Lebowski,The Big Lebowski. John Turturro is excellent and funny in his small role as Jesus Quintana,a sex offender and rival Bowler of The Dude and Walter. Phillip Seymour Hoffman(Brandnt),Sam Elliot(The Stranger,narrator),Ben Gazzara(Jackie Treehorn),Jon Polito(Da Fino),Tara Reid(Bunny Lebowski),Peter Stormare(Nihilist#1 Uli),Flea(Nihilist#2,Kiefer)and Torsten Voges(Nihilist#3,Franz)give good performances as well.
The direction by The Coen Brothers is excellent and stylish,with The Coens using slow camera movements,close ups and zooms and beautiful lighting and visual style. Great direction by The Coens.
The score by Carter Burwell is great,fun and ominous and it fits the tone of film. A wonderful score from Burwell. The soundtrack also has songs from Bob Dylan(The Man In Me),Kenny Rogers And The First Edition(I Just Dropped In(To What Condition My Conditon Was In),Creedance Clearwater Revival(Looking Out My Back Door,Run Through The Jungle),The Eagles(Peaceful Easy Feeling),Santana(Oyc Como Va),Townes Van Zandt(Dead Flowers),Big Johnson(Viva Las Vegas),Nina Simone(I Got It Bad And That Ain't Good),Sons Of The Pioneers(Tumbling Tumbleweeds)and more. A great soundtrack.
In final word,if you love The Coen Brothers,Comedies,Cult Films or films in general,I highly suggest you see The Big Lebowski,a brilliant and hilarious Comedy and film classic that you can watch again and again. Highly Recommended. 10/10.