That rug really tied the room together

Rating: 9/10 (20 April 2013)

Directed by Joel Coen
Starring Jeff Bridges, John Goodman and Julian Moore
Written by Ethan and Joel Coen
'"Dude" Lebowski, mistaken for a millionaire Lebowski, seeks restitution for his ruined rug and enlists his bowling buddies to help get it.'
Before watching this film, I knew it had somewhat of a 'cult' following but I never really heard any real noise about it. As the movie ended, I knew I didn't waste my time!
Joel and Ethan Coen are great creators in the world of film-making. I've watched 'No Country for Old Men' and what I took away from that film was 'silence is golden.' But this film is an entirely different animal. 'The Big Lebowski' reminds me of 'Dazed and Confused' and 'Reservoir Dogs' in the way that it's so easy to relate to the characters that the Coen brothers superbly created. The writing is the strongest aspect of this picture. They speak in such a 'down to earth' tone that it seems like you're listening to one of your best friends speaking to you and it really helps the flow of the story. It's easy to read the characters and the atmosphere is shoved in your face, but not necessarily forced. It's brilliant. I salute the writers!
The acting in this picture can be summarized with one certain name'John Goodman.' He stole the show. Period. End of story. Whenever his character was on screen, my eyes and ears were glued to him and when his character wasn't on screen, I was passionately awaiting an entrance. John Goodman's character has patience when everybody else's blood is rushing and he believes he knows the whole story without even knowing a shred of truth. He never looks back and never thinks twice. He was a joy to watch and I would watch the film again just because of him. Moving on, I had my doubts about Jeff Bridges at the beginning of the film. I didn't think he could pull off the character I was brought in front of in the beginning but as the film went on, he grew on me. I was buying everything he was saying. Great words with such a modern tone made his character just as enjoyable as Goodman's.
The music in this picture met with the story at such a point, I was hypnotized. It had a 'Farelly Brothers' edge to it. At times, I thought I was watching one of their films. The music had such a 'good mood' atmosphere and it leaves you so relaxed. It's the kind of music you would have playing if you were going on a long road trip with a few buddies.
'The Great Lebowski' was fun. I can't say that about a lot of films I've seen in my life. It's a film that's worth a second viewing and if you haven't seen this film, I strongly recommend you give it a look.