This is Just Like My Opinion Man

Rating: 10/10 (17 April 2019)

The Big Lebowski is the 7th film written, produced and directed by the Coen Brothers. The script was written in the early '90s around the time they released Barton Fink. In the meantime, they wrote, produced and directed the box office bomb, The Hudsucker Proxy, as well as the critically acclaimed and Oscar award-winning, Fargo. They waited as long as they needed to get Jeff Bridges and John Goodman in the cast and it paid off big time.
Similar to The Big Sleep, The Big Lebowski takes a convoluted plot to extreme measures. Both films include a wealthy, handicapped millionaire, promiscuous young women, blackmailers and pornographers. Both films make us connect characters to one another and piece together a scattered plot.
Taking a large step back from everything that happens in The Big Lebowski, the story is essentially about nothing. There is no money in the briefcase. There is no hostage. The nihilists believe in nothing except money. The Dude is not seen bowling. The Dude has no job and we don't know how he makes an income. Walter uses Shomer Shabbos as an excuse to do nothing on Saturday even though he's no longer Jewish. The only reason The Dude gets involved with Lebowski is due to his rug and agrees to work with him for just a small portion of the ransom. From the beginning, The Dude, Walter and Maude assume that Bunny kidnapped herself to extort money from Lebowski.
The bowling alley is the safe haven for The Dude and his team. Walter takes the bowling league very seriously. He threatens a bowler with a gun for stepping over the line and gets him to mark zero on his scorecard. When bowling rival Jesus Quintana (John Turturro) confronts the team, Walter reminds them he's a sex offender that exposed himself to an eight-year-old. Throughout the story, The Dude shares his news to Walter and Donny at the bowling alley. The mysterious man most likely overhears their conversations which is why he can narrate The Dude's story. He's seen talking to The Dude at the bowling alley's bar and appears again at the end. He never introduces himself, but Sam Elliot's resonant accent and thick mustache make his character memorable.
The script is very funny and explicit. The Dude and Walter's dialogue often clash but it doesn't get in the way of their friendship. The script was written specifically for Jeff Bridges and John Goodman's characters. Jeff Bridges is perfectly cast as The Dude, he's often misunderstood and spacing out in his own world. Unlike previous Coen Brothers films with Steve Buscemi, Donny can barely get a word out before Walter tells him to shut up. Julianne Moore puts on an interesting accent as Maude, that isn't distinct to any one place. Maude's giggly assistant, abstract artwork and sexual nature make her one of the funniest characters in the film. She's the centerpiece of the Gutterballs dream sequence as a sexy Viking surrounded by bowling pin dancers.
The soundtrack is great and it's referenced throughout the film. The Dude and Walter are listening to Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Run Through the Jungle" when delivering the briefcase. The cops who look for the car are worried the tape deck with Creedence would be stolen and are relieved when they find it still there. The song used in the opening credits, "The Man in Me" by Bob Dylan is used again when Maude knocks out The Dude and takes back the rug. They play the Rolling Stones song "Dead Flowers" by Townes Van Zandt after Donny's death.
The directing by Coen Brothers is very well done. Many of the cast members are reoccurring from previous films they've directed. The film's structure was influenced by detective fiction writer Raymond Chandler. The cinematography by Roger Deakins made the scenes look contemporary with the time period and the dream sequences to look bizarre. Deakins worked on previous Coen Brothers films such as Barton Fink and Fargo, as well as The Shawshank Redemption. The editing is impressive, especially during the dream sequences. The first-person camera shot inside the bowling ball as it rolls down the lane for a strike looks very sharp. They use pan and zoom shots frequently to go from a wide view of the setting to the subjects. They use long takes, the most impressive coming in the final scene, that finishes with a strike.
At the time, The Big Lebowski was one of the Coen Brothers highest budgeted films at $15 million. It grossed just over $46 million worldwide. The Big Lebowski can be enjoyed on many viewings and it succeeds as both a comedy and a crime film. I highly recommend this film to adults.
4/4