Sometimes, there's a man... that man is The Dude.

Rating: 9/10 (23 June 2006)

It took me a few views before I fully appreciated all the subtleties of this film. Beyond being humorous from both a character and a situational point of view, it has a near genius way of combining the extraordinary with the mundane, putting The Dude in a situation which he does not fit into at all. The outrageous exploits of just about every other character, including the Dude's friend Walter and his rich and powerful counterpart, also named Jeff Lebowski, are made even more outrageous in the fact that the Dude just wants to lay back, smoke a joint, and not get involved in any of this.
The overly hyped exaggeration of the mystery plot, combined with the extremely downplayed acting of Jeff Bridges as the Dude, make this film work on many levels, and the irregularities of every character really play off each other, especially between John Goodman and Jeff Bridges. John, as the Dude's friend Walter, is such a huge presence with his wild outbursts and near frantic insanity, that it winds up the Dude's already seemingly high-strung personality and creates a great contrast that really made me respect John's acting abilities.
Overall, the great dialogue, both subtle and blatant humor, and excellent mix of situational and character comedy make this a film that I will definitely recommend for just about any collection.