Entertaining but "slight" Coen Bros. fare

Rating: 7/10 (20 July 2003)

I have long been a fan of the Coen Brothers films, and I admit I was hugely disappointed with the Big Lebowski when I first saw it in the theaters, especially since it was the Coen's first film release since the incredible Fargo and many viewers (like myself) had high expectations.

So I avoided viewing it again for a few years until I got the urge to complete my Coen Bros. video collection and I hoped that with the passing of some time my opinion would change. It did for the better.
Granted, The Big Lebowski is still no Fargo, and I still think granting this film a higher rating than far better Coen films is awfully gratuitous, but at least it can be viewed and appreciated on it's own terms now instead of having the critical and commercial triumph of Fargo looming overhead. Unlike films such as Fargo, Barton Fink, or Oh Brother, Lebowski plays as a loose, far less structured, and meticulous affair. The Coen Bros. quirkness abounds, but seems to be devised more for pure pleasure than imagery of any deeper, metaphorical meaning. This actually makes it unique among Coen Bros. films, because one gets the sense that they just wanted to make a straight forward (for them, at least) comedy about a character thrusted in a weird predicament that's incongruous to his persona. It does seem to play a bit forced, however, as if the Coens felt that they needed to uphold their trademark stylizations, and the dialogue does get a bit wordy and tiresome after a while. It entertains on a fairly basic surface level, whereas other films in the Coen catalog (such as Barton Fink) have an incredible amount of depth and are far more thought provoking. There's nothing cryptic or profound here, the depth of the film lies in the filmmaker's vision and the character development, but not so in a storyline with any underlying hidden meanings or moral lessons.
Overall an entertaining and engaging film, but definitely not the best Coen Bros. film nor "the funniest film ever made".