Strikes all around for the Seattle Seven

Rating: 10/10 (10 March 2007)

This vaudeville show of vanity, arguably the Coen brothers' finest work, is many movies rolled into one, but with the appeal of a finished masterpiece rather than the patchworky feel of your usual episode affair. There is "Tumbling Tumbleweed", a desert epic set in motion by the stranger's rambling monologue. There is "Logjammin'", the ludicrous "beaver picture" starring Bunny La Joya-Lebowski-Knutson and the eminent Karl Hungus. There is "Urban Achievers", a twisted hostage thriller come art world satire. There is "Hotel California", a poignant social drama revolving around John Torturro in his finest hour as Latino child molester Jesus Quintana. There is "Larry's Homework", the bleak suburban neo-noir PI story, and, of course and most notably, the cosmic "Gutterballs", a Jackie Treehorn production, following the dude's lucid dream as it spins from bowling bliss to nihilist nightmare, featuring Saddam Hussein as shoe-shine boy extraordinaire. It is all this and more that makes the Big L the ultimate LA movie, a major cinematic joyride, a melancholic masterpiece you will never tire from.