Another gem from the Coen brothers

Rating: Null/10 (23 August 1999)

The best comedy of the nineties.I loved the characters, John Goodman excels as the agressive Vietnam veteran hellbent on 'helping' the dude. Steve Buschemi underplays his role perfectly, and of course Jeff Bridges wears the dude's character like a second skin. The dialogue is cracking, the Coen brothers really showing off their masterful ear for language. It is a privelige to see how every line is delivered and timed to comic perfection. Then theres the Coen brothers labyrinth plot of ( surprise!) kidnapping, ransom demands, sex...The film is very imaginative, loads of offbeat characters - the stanger, Maude Lebowski ( a vaginal artist!), and of course the millionaire Lebowski. Even the direction has the obligatory Coen brothers slant ( we see the world of bowling through the kind of devotion and attention that Scorsese put into American Pool in The Color of Money).In a world of dumb comedies grasping in futility at the most obvious 'jokes', The Big Lebowski shows just how, well er, big it really is. Constantly laugh out loud moments, intelligently written, and so many classic scenes you really need this in your collection.