The Dude

Rating: 10/10 (16 September 2017)

Have you been looking for a movie that really ties the room together? If so, The Big Lebowski is just that movie! Warning, spoiler alert!!! This movie starts out when Jeff Lebowski's, AKA the Dude (Jeff Bridges) house gets broken into by two assailants demanding money. The assailants soon learn they have the wrong Lebowski and one of them angrily urinates on the dudes' rug. The Dude, angry that his favorite rug that really tied the room together was urinated on, consults his bowling partner Walter Sobchok (John Goodman). Walter instructs the Dude that he needs to find the correct Jeff Lebowski and have him compensate him for the fouled rug. The Dude heeding Walter's instructions does just that. Upon meeting the real Jeff Lebowski, the Dude gets inadvertently involved in the kidnapping plot of Mr. Lebowski's wife Bunny (Tara Reid). Mr. Lebowski offers the Dude 25K to be the bag man and drop the ransom off to the kidnappers. The Dude then tells his bowling partner Walter, who invites himself along to perform the drop. Walter switches the ransom money with his dirty undies "the whites" and they perform the drop. The ransom money is then stolen out of the dude's trunk and he finds himself between a rock and a hard place. The kidnappers report that they did not receive the ransom so now the Dude is assailed upon by not only Mr. Lebowski but the kidnappers as well. The Dude and Walter ultimately find out that that Bunny ran away and wasn't kidnapped. They also discover that Mr. Lebowski stuffed the ransom bag with telephone books in hopes that the kidnappers would kill Bunny who was a gold digger that cheated on him. The theme of this film is? You guessed it, the Dude. The dude is an unemployed, burned out bum. He gets assaulted, he's tortured, his rug gets soiled on and his car is systematically destroyed throughout this film. He is seduced by a rich woman who uses him for her pregnancy needs. He has the chance to earn a fortune only to have it slip away. Despite all this the Dude remains very dude like! He takes on all this adversity and challenge with his calm easy- going demeanor. In the end, the dude is essentially where he began before all this strife and drama entered his life. None of this seems to bother the dude and this is why I love this film so much! The Coen brothers are amazing writers and I believe this to be their best work to date! Another film they wrote called Inside Llewn Davis had a very similar theme to the Big Lebowski. Inside Llewn Davis was about a struggling folk musician whose music partner kills himself. Llewn Davis' (Oscar Issac) record doesn't sell. He survives by sleeping on various friend's couches, one of whom he ends up impregnating his girlfriend. He takes a recording gig to be able to earn enough money to pay for his friend's girlfriend's abortion. Throughout all this adversity Llewn Davis like the Dude has a calm and easy-going demeanor and basically ends up where he began minus his record starting to take off. The use of voice-over narration and the thematic element of focusing on the character lend a lot to why this movie has taken on the cult following that it has. The voice- over narration helps to introduce us to the Dude from the beginning of this film. The stranger that narrates also points out the struggles that the Dude suffers throughout this film as well as highlight that the Dude keeps his calm. The narrator ends the movie by comforting us and letting us know that everything works out for the Dude. The thematic element of focusing on the Dude is what drives this movie. The plot is important to this film but without the Dude there would be no plot. That being said, this movies' plot is driven by the lead characters actions. The qualities that set the Dude apart from ordinary people is his ability to remain calm despite all the chaos that surrounds him. The theme of this film can be absolutely expressed in the description of the dude. If you've been looking for a good movie that really ties the room together then this is a must see! The Big Lebowski shows us that an easy-going demeanor and calmer than you are approach is the way to approach life. This movie is ensured to bring you a great film viewing experience.