The Dude Abides

Rating: 9/10 (18 June 2013)

Read it here: http://squeerelist.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-big-lebowski- 1998.html
Jeff 'The Dude' Lebowski is a professional slacker and amateur bowler who spends his days drinking White Russians dressed in a robe and plastic sandals. Two thugs break into his apartment and beat him up to get his money. They soon realize they got the wrong Jeffrey Lebowski. His Dudeness then decides to meet this millionaire Lebowski to get compensation for his damaged rug that was peed on during the incident. After the Big Lebowski's trophy wife is kidnapped, The Dude is in charge of delivering the ransom to get her back. The Big Lebowski marks a high point in The Coen brothers' career. They created an icon of the 90s with The Dude. He became a god-like figure for many. A guy adored by a generation thanks to his unique philosophy and style. I don't think The Dude could have been interpreted by a better actor than Jeff Bridges. He rocks the laidback attitude with a disconcerting comfort. Not to mention that his hair is so sleek, I'm hypnotized by it. The Bridges/Goodman/Buscemi trio is hilarious and the additional characters portrayed by talented actors like Julianne Moore, or Philip Seymour Hoffman are the cherries on top of this psychedelic cake. The Big Lebowski is one quotable masterpiece punctuated with bizarre dreamy scenes specific to the Coen bros. I don't know what they are on when they write their screenplays but I sure want some. I really like the soundtrack that features Bob Dylan among others. The plot suddenly becomes secondary and my main pleasure is to watch Jeff Bridges evolve in The Dude's colorful pants side by side with the wrathful veteran mastered by John Goodman. The characters and situations crack me up because they're all so incredible. The story is narrated by a cowboy, the villains are German nihilists, and John Turturro, who appears only for a few seconds on screen, is a bowler/sex-offender named Jesus. If that isn't random brilliance, I don't know what is.
1 reason to watch: indulge in enjoying TBL dude-style with a guilt-free White Russian (or 9)