A Tale of The Dude

Rating: 9/10 (3 May 2020)

Well, one can certainly expect the Coen brothers to make a film that is different from the norm. The Big Lebowski is certainly one of those films, and it is a pretty good one at that. The film is based upon The Big Sleep, a gritty detective novel by Raymond Chandler, but there are certainly quite a lot of differences, and much of that happens to do with the Coen brother's unique style of film making.
The film is about this guy known as 'The Dude', though his last name is Lebowski. One evening, when he returns home, he encounters a couple of home invaders that want him to pay them the money that his wife owes. The problem is that he isn't married, and he certainly doesn't have any money. They soil his rug and leave after realising that they have got the wrong Lebowski.
So, the Dude suddenly finds himself caught up in this mystery, except that he isn't a detective, he is just this lazy, weed smoking, white Russian drinking guy that spends most of his time down at the bowling alley. Further, he just ends up getting caught up in this thing, were we have a millionaire with a trophy wife, except that the wife has been kidnapped, and he is asked to go and drop off the money.
However, there are so many twists and turns in this film, that it ends up being one of those rather wild rides. If you are familiar with The Big Sleep, you will begin to pick up a lot of elements from that book, though the story is nowhere near as close - they tend to only loosely base their films on these ideas. Yet it is pretty gripping, and there is hardly a point where you aren't riveted to this film - that is the nature of the Coen brothers.
Another thing that stands out is the characteristation, particularly since you sort of wonder why the Dude hangs around with the people that he does. In another way, the characters are also larger than life, though one could actually say that this isn't quite the case because while many of them are quite quirky, it is these quirks that actually make them much more realistic, and much more enjoyable to watch as well.
The ending is, also, rather typical of the Coen brothers, namely because while it ends well, it isn't a happy ending where everybody ends up in a much better position than they originally were. Once again, this is a trait of the Coen brothers, to create a gritty film that while it doesn't seem to go anyway, or at least end well, it ends in a way that is quite satisfying. This is definitely a film to watch if you happen to like their style.