A great piece of cult movie making

Rating: 9/10 (8 April 2007)

If you see any "greatest film lists" or if your looking for top award winners, you will never find The Big Lebowski. Film critics will not praise it, as it doesn't really have any underlying message on life, love or the dangers of drugs or whatever. They would feel ashamed to admit that this is one of the best films ever. Fortunately, thanks to the regular film viewers on IMDb, The Big Lebowski gets the praise it so rightfully deserves, and a cemented place in the top #250.
It offers so many things. It has the usual brilliant Coen Bros script, with its twisting plot and humour. It has so many unusual and wonderful characters. It really is one of the funniest films ever. They could have easily taken the script and made it into a good thriller. But the Coens made it into so much more.
The characters are just brilliant. Jeff Bridges is great as "The Dude", who never fails to have a drink in his hand, and ends each sentence with "man". John Goodman puts in a terrific performance, as a Vietnam veteran who turns into a raving lunatic at the drop of a hat, but "doesn't roll on Shabbah". My favourite performance comes from Steve Buscemi, despite only having a relatively small part. He maintains a rather puzzled expression throughout, only to interrupt conversations at random intervals. The Coens could have easily left Donnie out of the film, but it's little additions like him that make this film great.
There's so many great quotes and scenes in the film, and showing the dreams in the weird mind of The Dude such as the scene with the flying carpet, just adds a bizarre yet wonderful quality that most comedies don't have.
At the end of the film, after viewing all the wacky characters, danger and plot twists, The Dude brings to your attention that all he wanted was his rug! This just adds to the comic approach the Coens went for, and The Big Lebowski leaves you feeling happy and warm inside, as you have just witnessed such greatness on screen.
When I look at the fact that The Big Lebowski won just 1 (minor) award, it just proves that there is no justice in the world of film, and I find it hard to swallow that such genius can go unrewarded.
By my reckoning this is one of the Coen brothers finest achievements to date, up there with Fargo and Miller's Crossing, and believe me, that is some achievement. Their unique and clever scripts show they have so much more imagination than most screen writers, and despite the fact they haven't made a really great film for a few years, I hope they are just laying dormant and will give us another wonderful film such as The Big Lebowski.