The Dude Abides, and Walter Rules

Rating: 8/10 (29 April 2001)

`The Big Lebowski' is a strange, funny film that occasionally struggles for coherence -- fortunately, this lack of coherence is usually part of its charm. It's the story of The Dude (Jeff Bridges), also known as Jeff Lebowski, an amiable stoner trying to cruise through life on the path of least resistance. The Dude's world is ruined one day, though, by a bunch of thugs who break into his apartment, beat him up, ruin his favorite rug . . . and realize that they've assaulted the wrong Jeff Lebowski. The thugs were actually looking to pummel Jeff Lebowski (David Huddleston) the millionaire industrialist, who's up to his neck in trouble with organized crime.
Since he was beaten up unfairly, and since his prized rug has been ruined, The Dude decides to seek compensation from this `other' Jeff Lebowski. What follows from there is a wild tale involving kidnapping, modern art, pornography, bowling, and German nihilists. In other words, it's another wickedly funny movie from Joel and Ethan Coen.
Jeff Bridges is great as The Dude, an affable, easy-going guy who constantly struggles to do what he thinks is right throughout the film . . . even if his idea of what's right is sometimes slightly warped. The best character of the film, though, is The Dude's best friend Walter Sobchak, as played by John Goodman. How Goodman's portrayal of Walter failed to win an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, let alone even get nominated for one, is downright criminal. Walter is a walking, talking, ticking time bomb, all sorts of contradictory rage rolled up into an extremely unstable package. Walter likes to think of himself as this calm, all-knowing voice of reason, but deep down he knows he's not, and that makes him all the angrier. Watch how Walter belittles his other friend Donnie (Steve Buscemi) for Donnie's politically incorrect use of the term `Chinamen' -- and then watch shortly thereafter how Walter personally describes a group of German nihilists. It's nothing short of comic brilliance. (Also worth noting -- Tara Reid has a very small role as `Bunny' Lebowski, but she also has the best line in the entire film. Don't miss it.) `The Big Lebowski' is a character-driven film, heavily reliant on the quirks and reactions of its characters to make it work. Well, not only do the performances in the film make `The Big Lebowski' work, but they make it work magnificently.
Visually, `The Big Lebowski' is one of the Coen Brothers' best; there's a loving, sweeping series of glorious shots used for the bowling sequences that are offbeat, original, and highly effective. (There's also a point-of-view shot from inside a bowling bowl that works to great effect.) The weakest part of `Lebowski' is the actual story -- parts of the plot thread involving the German nihilists, while funny, are often pointless and don't add much to the rest of the film. Also, some plot threads either vanish altogether partway during the film or are never satisfactorily resolved. That, however, is a by-product of one of the `The Big Lebowski's' overall recurring themes --'The Dude Abides.' The Dud is easygoing enough to deal with any situation, no matter how weird or random it might be. Unfortunately, by giving the Dude weird and random situations to deal with, the overall story loses focus. It's not a major enough problem to drag the film down significantly, but it's enough to keep a good film from becoming great.
Rent it, if only to see the tour du force performance of Jon Goodman. A bizarre and downright funny movie. Grade: B+/A-