The Big Lebowski, my hero-the slacker, crime mystery solver

Rating: 9/10 (22 September 2013)

The Big Lebowski film plot is centered on a Los Angeles dude, who is a real slacker, pot smoking, White Russian drinker, soon to be hero solving a crime mystery. He happens to have the same name as a millionaire; Jeffrey Lebowski played by David Huddleston, whose wife, Bunny Lebowski (Tara Reid) was kidnapped and owes money to a known pornographer. We are introduced to the Dude as he is shopping for milk and he opened the carton and sniffed it. The Dude wrote a check for 69 cents and returns home. It appears that he is unaware that someone is waiting on him and they attack him in the apartment. One of the hit men urinates on his rug. His prized possession that ties the apartment together, says the Dude.
The Dude enlists his bowling buddies, whom we meet in regular league play. His main antagonist and best friend played by John Goodman, as Walter Sobchak. We soon learn that Walter is a practicing Jew who observes the Shabbos day of rest. Walter refuses to lift a finger on the day of rest, but manages to convince the Dude that he needs to find the millionaire Jeffrey Lebowski, and get his rug replaced. Walter drives the car on the Shabbos and says he is just doing it to help out. But turns out he is creating more trouble for the Dude. The millionaire Jeffrey Lebowski is in a wheelchair, but convinces the Dude he needs to deliver the ransom money alone so his kidnapped wife will return. The Dude becomes a crime fighting, urban cowboy. They go through the motions of delivering the money and in the meantime, they say "F it, let's go bowling" park the car in a handicapped zone with the ransom money in it, when they walk outside the car is gone. Panic ensues and Walter always says "Shut the F up, Donny" played by Steve Buscemi. Donny never really gets to say much in the film, but Walter always tells him the same thing.
We get introduced to the millionaire's sister, Maude Lebowski portrayed by Julianne Moore. Maude was a nude artist who created her works of art while riding in ceiling harness. She believed the ransom money was kept by the Dude, but he proves to her that there was no money, and he was used by her brother as a scapegoat. The millionaire still has the money. The pornographer hires hit men, thugs to find the money. Once they determine there is no money, they punch the Dude in the face so hard, we see & hear fireworks, and then he is flying through the sky like Superman. Then he lands in the bowling alley. The Dude tackles all his problems inside the walls of the bowling alley. The punch perpetuates him there.
Walter's character gets so out of hand he pulls a gun on another bowler because he wants to bowl on Shabbos. This is not going to happen, the police are called but they run right by the pair in the parking lot. They are not even the least bit frazzled about the police being there, we see them running into the alley with guns pulled.
The music ties the scenes together in the movie. When the action elevates to a point where they can't handle it anymore, the say let's go bowling. Magically through sound they end up there bowling. Always confronted by larger than life egos and it becomes quite funny how much animosity and hate both lash at each other. One of the teams they are to play against, become real aggressive and say "No one messes with Jesus" (John Turturro) that is the bowler's name. We get a flashback which is so comical showing Jesus as a pedophile going door to door announcing to the neighborhood that he lives there. Music takes us from the bowling alley through that flashback.
It is a funny movie showing that even slackers can be heroes. Maude found a purpose for the Dude, as she wanted him to be a sperm donor only, she wanted a child. She was beyond weird, but the Dude liked her style. At the conclusion of the film Donnie dies from shock of seeing the Dude's car on fire. He was not up for all the problems and confrontations that Walter and Dude went through. He was much more fragile than they imagined, best part is he didn't die alone. His best friends were there till the end.
Many times over this movie had music transition the picture forward, the voices were covered by different rock songs, and special effects transferred everyone to the next scene. Just by mere suggestion. We were walking in the bowling alley at every problem. I loved how they glorified some of the bowling scenes, especially with the dude going underneath about 50 women down the approach looking up at their crotches. Sometimes even the Dude was embarrassed by what he wished would happen. He couldn't look up at the women he floated upside down the approach of the bowling alley, ashamed of his own thoughts or more like daydreams. The Dude became a crusader of crime, not you're likely candidate to solve a mystery. He did it with the help of Donnie and Walter, despite the constant arguing and bickering between the three.
The arguing was the craziest thing that kept them going, for most it would drive them apart. I never imagined this would be a crime mystery movie that was so cleverly written that The Dude seems like someone from real life and not a character at all. He feels so real, that's what makes this movie so special. Anyone can be a hero; you just gotta believe in yourself, even if you're a slacker.