Raymond Chandler meets Timothy Leary on a beach, one Saturday afternoon.

Rating: Null/10 (23 May 2003)

That's the best description I could come up with after seeing "The Big Lebowski", a quirky, belly-shaking, tripping shamus comedy.
Pacifist deadbeat and bowler Jeff "The Dude" Lebowski (lovable shaggy dog Jeff Bridges) is a victim of mistaken identity when two dopes rough him up and p*** on his rug, wanting money. The real target is a wealthy, paraplegic philanthropist (David Huddleston of "Blazing Saddles"). "The Dude" wants reimbursement for the rug, but finds rich Lebowski is a hypocrite. However, his trophy wife Bunny (Tara Reid of the first two "American Pie" films) is kidnapped and asks "The Dude" (love that nickname) to play courier for the ransom, yet there's something rotten in Denmark.
Joel and Ethan Coen (they're both writers, producers and directors in my view) has performed another masterpiece for movie fans who don't want the same, run-of-the-mill junk from the dream factory all the time. The actors' performances are well steered. John Goodman, a stock actor in the Coens' universe, is funny as Walter, Bridges' volatile bowling chap and a class-A oaf, who thinks everything has to do with the Vietnam War, which he fought in, much to The Dude's grief. Julianne Moore (who looks like my kindergarten teacher which I had a crush on) is sexy as Maude, the rich Lebowski's daughter who creates strong, feminist artwork (any relation to the same named sitcom with Bea Arthur) and helps out the Dude (in more ways than one :)). Plus, other Coen figures, John Turturro (a grad of my elementary school, St. Clare in Queens, NY) and Steve Buscemi (former Valley Stream, Long Island resident and firefighter), are fun too. What caps the film is the "Gutterballs" sequence (the Kenny Rogers song, the Saddam Hussein lookalike, Moore as a Viking, Bridges as a TV repair guy and the bowling pin dancers rock!) and "The Stranger", played by dry-voiced Sam Elliot, who questioned his participation in the film. Was he supposed to be God or what? Then again, weirdness is the rule of the Coen Brothers' films and it hasn't failed them. Far from it, to quote "The Stranger".
Enjoy this film. ;)