Among The Greatest of American Comedies

Rating: 9/10 (22 October 2015)

To me, the three funniest American movies ever made are A NIGHT AT THE OPERA, YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, and THE BIG LEBOWSKI.
It's really interesting to notice the similarities between the three movies. YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN is a spoof of classic horror movies from the thirties. THE BIG LEBOWSKI is a spoof of classic detective movies from the thirties and forties. Both movies totally capture the feel of the original genre and feel authentic even when being deliberately funny. The Dude is a lot like the Monster, a slow and clumsy but basically good-hearted character who spends most of the movie stumbling around not quite knowing what is going on, while the hysterical characters all around him create bizarre complications.
Also, notice that both YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN and THE BIG LEBOWSKI feature show-stopping musical numbers, each of which come out of nowhere and feature the rumpled, clumsy main character suddenly recast as a dapper song and dance man. "Puttin' On the Ritz" and "Just Stopped In (To See What Condition My Condition Is In") are both numbers that take an already successful comedy and push it into the realm of a total classic.
A lot of the humor in THE BIG LEBOWSKI parallels the humor of A NIGHT AT THE OPERA. In both movies, wealthy society people attempt to boss around deadbeats and eccentrics, who soon turn the tables and create all kinds of mischief. Maude Lebowski, with her artistic tastes, cheerful snobbery, and fundamentally gullible nature, is a perfect update of the well-to-do women Margaret Dumont always played in the Marx Brothers classic comedies. The difference is that Maude is never, ever reduced to the role of a simple straight man (or woman.) Indeed, her wit is often a lot sharper than the Dude's. ("The dialog is inane, and the plot ludicrous . . . of course you can imagine where it goes from here." "He fixes the cable?" "Don't be fatuous, Jeffrey.")
This brings up the final point I want to make about THE BIG LEBOWSKI. There are no straight men. There are no small parts. Every single character is funny and the effect is dazzling. Whereas Groucho has to be the funniest character in every scene, the Dude himself is often allowed to step back and allow the weirdness of others to shine. This is what makes THE BIG LEBOWSKI a unique comedy masterpiece.
So what keeps this movie from being a perfect ten? The ending is a little anti-climactic, and the death of a major character dampens the impact. Also the use of the cowboy character in the bowling alley (and as a narrator) struck me as being an annoying distraction.