A rare good comedy

Rating: 9/10 (12 February 2002)

I know a lot of people who hate this movie. I don't understand those people, but, what can I say? I find "The Big Lebowski" to be, not simply a very funny movie (one of the funniest I've seen), but also a damn good movie in terms of character, story, plot, and themes. So few people are interested in making good comedies anymore. "The Big Lebowski" is like a gift from heaven.
This movie is the rare combination of a film which I can rewatch endlessly, I always find something to make me laugh out loud (it's never the same thing twice), and actually holds up rather well to close scrutiny. It's a wonderful goofball version of a standard 1950s film noir, updated, of course, and never taken seriously. But all the elements are there. It's a terrific spoof of detective movie, but it actually functions successfully as a detective movie. [Compare to "Airplane", which is a riotously funny spoof of airplane disaster movies, but only works as a spoof, not as an airplane disaster movie. "The Big Lebowski" is making fun of detective movies, but it also has a real mystery involved, and a real detective (albeit an unusual one) who actually solves the mystery.]
Great performances make this film, and the cast is to die for. See it. If it's not your cup of tea, well, it isn't for everyone. But for my money, this is definitely not only one of the funniest comedies out there, but also one of the best.