Time and Place for Everyone; Even the Dude

Rating: 10/10 (8 March 2018)

Intruders break into the modest Los Angeles apartment of Jeff "the Dude" Lebowski. He is roughed up, money is demanded of him that he does not have, his head is unceremoniously swirled in the toilet and the toughs threaten to return, but they have the wrong Lebowski! This simple case of mistaken identity leads to a comedy of errors involving a kidnapping, a million-dollar ransom, Jesus in a purple bowling suit, a duffel bag full of dirty undies, an attack ferret and even a spicy bowling themed dream sequence. The Dude is inept, lazy and hopeless, but there is a time and place for everyone. He is in way over his head, yet so is everyone else.

20 years after its release and the film still one of my all-time favorites. It was my first Coen brothers film. Their brilliance and originality is instantly recognizable. The story and characters are full of delightful depth and details, the writing is witty and consistently dazzling, there is never a dull moment, and on top of everything it is really, really funny. At times I could hardly breath I was laughing so hard. Among such moments is the confrontation with the ferret, the parking lot skirmish heart attack and the bowling rants and taunts of Jesus.

Finding balance is one thing the Coen brothers excel at. Each character has offsetting strengths and weaknesses, every setting is shown in wondrous light as well as the shadows, and nothing is beyond reproach. No one and nothing is put on a pedestal, or trashed without a fair fight. The casting of Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Julianne Moore, Steve Buscemi, Philip Seymour Hoffman and John Turturro is brilliant. The Coens have such amazing insight into the American character; rich and poor, country and city, women and men, and cultured or not. They cut across boundaries, religions, philosophies, regions and political persuasions, and they do it seamlessly and randomly as a tumbling tumbleweed and as unlikely as a bowling alley prophet!