enjoyable stoner comedy

Rating: 6/10 (15 July 2008)

'The Big Lebowski' was supposedly inspired by the old Humphrey Bogart classic, 'The Big Sleep,' but I don't see it, unless every movie ever made with a convoluted plot is to be considered a descendant of it. What it reminds me of is Martin Scorsese's 'After Hours,' with which it has much more in common. Specifically, the story of an inconsequential character who gets caught up in a byzantine series of situations; the other main feature of such a story is that seemingly anything bad that can happen to the character, does. 'After Hours' though was better, and funnier. I think what 'The Big Lebowski' lacks is the frenetic pace of 'After Hours.' This film just sort of ambles along, amiable and occasionally very funny. Like most Coen Brothers' movies, it is determinedly odd in a lot of ways, but so many films these days are, that quality doesn't come across as terribly unique, or even original. Jeff Bridges is the perfect choice to play Jeff Lebowski, aka 'Dude.' The very definition of the term 'slacker,' Dude doesn't have much of a life beyond bowling, smoking pot, and drinking White Russians. He has two close friends, Walter (John Goodman) and Donny (Steve Buscemi), and their socializing appears limited to bowling tournaments. But Bridges invests Dude with a sly kind of laidback style; he comes across as a very likable ne'er-do-well, somebody you wouldn't mind spending a few hours with at the corner bar (or bowling alley). Goodman's Walter is a hyper Vietnam Vet who lacks common sense to an astonishing degree and is completely oblivious to that fact; Buscemi's character Donny seems to exist for the sole purpose of being told to shut up, usually by Walter. The film enjoys being weird and bucking convention here and there. A sort of running gag is that whenever Dude is knocked unconscious (and yes, it happens more than once), we enter a dream sequence. The best one is an elaborately staged dance number set to the '60s hit, "I Just Dropped In To See What Condition My Condition Was In." Julianne Moore plays an avant-garde artist with a (surprise) strange outlook on art, sex, and life in general. She's pretty good too. But some of the other oddball supporting characters, like the three Nihilists, are more like something you'd see in a VERY average 'Saturday Night Live' sketch. 'The Big Lebowski' has its own semi-quirky, meandering kind of charm and Coen aficionados will probably enjoy it more than the average moviegoer. Its main appeal, to me anyway, is Bridges' performance. He really inhabits the character of Dude and it's a lot of fun listening to him deliver the droll stoner dialogue throughout. That alone makes the film worth checking out.