"Far out!"

Rating: 10/10 (15 May 2004)

Mild Spoilers
The classic Hitchcock premise of dropping an ordinary man into extraordinary circumstances and watching him go is used to terrific effect by the Coens, who are matched all the way by their players.
The Dude, a permanently stoned, nihilistic hippy for the nineties who likes listening to tapes of Creedence, whales singing and bowling pins tumbling is attacked in his apartment by two thugs who mistake him for a millionaire of the same given name - the Big Lebowski of the title.
Jeff Bridges as the Dude, excited by intermittent moments of clarity, is sent on a journey through mazy plots and sub-plots populated by outrageous characters from the Los Angeles netherworld. Confronted by kidnap, deception, extortion and German nihilists desperate for cash, he is alternately helped and hindered by his buddy, a Polish Catholic, 'Nam obsessed vet who thinks he's Jewish and who threatens fellow travellers who commit minor bowling transgressions with summary execution. The character is played with relish and perfectly by John Goodman in what may be his finest hour. Their bowling buddy, Steve Buscemi, is underused but sports his best crestfallen facade throughout and demonstrates first-rate comic timing as his character tries to get with the programme.
The Big Lebowski is not for all tastes, but, if you get it, is one of the most engaging and side-splitting films around, and one which is eminently quotable: "Walter, you're my friend and I love you, but sooner or later you're going to have to face the fact that you're a goddam moron."
If you don't get it, watch it again. And, if you do get it, watch it again.