Iconic Character and a Peerless Film

Rating: 10/10 (23 January 2020)

Joel and Ethan Coen have done so much so brilliantly, but nothing more improbably wondrous than perma-wrapping a former 60s radical in a sweater and pajama pants and transforming him into an easy argument for the most iconic character in modern comedic cinema. So goes The Dude as he appears in "The Big Lebowski."
Mixing the once-disparate ingredients of stoner flick, L.A. noir, and dark comedy with telltale signs of the classic buddy movie, it's likely the genius casting of Jeff Bridges as the leisure-adamant Jeffery "The Dude" Lebowski that most acutely prescribed greatness for this one-of-a-kind film. The opportunity for an iconic performance was sure to have gone unrealized if placed in lesser hands, and Bridges' nearly middle-aged, fully self-realized Dude is augmented by terrific fellow slackers of their own unique brands: Endearingly hostile Vietnam vet Walter Sobchak (John Goodman) and the charmingly carefree Donny Kerabatsos (Steve Buscemi) conspire with The Dude to squelch the machismo-driven bowling game of convicted pedophile Jesus Quintana (a remarkable John Turturro). Yet when a pair of arm breakers mistake him for an L.A. fat cat who shares his Lebowski surname, The Dude seeks out this supposed "Big Lebowski," and demands recompense. "The Big Lebowski" then begins its next-level ascent to wildly creative zeniths, mixing surrealist fantasy, bowling, and suspect private eye work into a joyously burlesque stew. We dial straight in to The Dude's laissez fare mindset as he wanders into an ensemble of wonderfully sketched characters placed throughout truly fascinating scenes.
In interviews, the Coen brothers underplay what they must know they achieved with "The Big Lebowski." In Bridges' manifestation, we certainly see the idler -- but we also see the possibilities of a truly carefree existence realized by living comfortably in one's own skin. And that, perhaps, is this comedy's most aspirational of its many achievements. "The Big Lebowski" has a seat on the rug in the highest tier of uniquely great films.
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