An utter delight from beginning to end. (SLIGHT SPOILER)

Rating: 10/10 (18 November 2001)

Whilst I can't say it's the best FILM I've ever seen - there's a lot of competition for that title, and it's hard to pick just one - I CAN say that it's the best COMEDY I've ever seen. (Until 2005, when it was eclipsed by 1968's "The Odd Couple"... ) The characters are just so eccentric yet superbly complex and detailed, as in all of the Coen's previous movies. The writing is treated with the same level of sophistication that the brothers bring to all their work, It's NOT dumbed down just by virtue of it being a comedy. Almost every line in the script is ripe for quotation.
On a comedy level it works perfectly, but the storyline itself is just as intricate as we've come to expect from Joel and Ethan. Don't worry if you don't fully understand the plot machinations, it doesn't really matter when you are laughing so hard.
Bridges is perfect as the perpetually stoned "Dude". He infuses the character with such a likable charm that you're likely to be smiling even when he hasn't said anything. There are an array of other colourful characters, but "The Dude" - ahem - 'really ties the film together'. He is a filmic icon and should be regarded as such for all time. There's also a great cameo by Sam Elliot (Man, I loved that guy in "Mask"!)
True, the film can't quite sustain its momentum throughout its running time, so there are slow spots (I didn't enjoy the scenes with Julianne Moore's character nearly as much as the others) but when it gets it right it's hilarious, and there are so many scenes that I wish I had wrote, but then I don't have 1/1000th of the talent of the REAL scripters.
The Coens have created a filmic universe that you (or at least this writer) want to inhabit yourselves. The characters seem so lifelike and leap off the screen. I'm just waiting for the brothers to pen a sequel, I need to catch up on the further adventures of "The Dude" and his buddy Walter; even the sadly departed "Donny" (That calls for a prequel) How about it guys? Could you see your way clear... ?
"Nice marmot!"
P.S. Oh yeah, and the dream sequences are weird and wonderful too, watch for them! I have the song "Just Dropped In (To see what condition my condition was in)" buzzing around my head as I type! Chilled...
Gotta go, a "White Russian" is calling... !