Disjointed but often humorous.

Rating: 7/10 (22 May 2007)

This movie hosts a bold cast of characters but does little to piece them into the film properly.
The Big Lebowski has it's comedic moments amidst a cornucopia of quirky scenes and larger than life characters. The plot, despite it's multiple twists is relatively simple. An aged hippie in L.A gets involved in a mock kidnapping plot all due to a stolen carpet and a case of mistaken identity.
This type of plot, which is standard Cohen Brothers fare, does little justice to the film's often disjointed nature. There are scenes in this film driven by some colorful cameos that could have been entirely omitted from the movie with little or no consequence to the film's continuity. There are many cameos in this film by some obscure actors such as David Thewliss and Sam Elliot that feel more obligatory than necessary.
There is also an entire scene that could have been omitted in the film. Jeff Bridges character is drugged by someone in the film. You get to see the entire insane dream he has while he's drugged. This to me was totally unnecessary and could have been handled so much better than a narcotics dream.
This is not to say there isn't some original comedy to be found in The Big Lebowski. There are enough funny if not slightly bizarre moments to separate this film from standard comedic predictability. John Goodman does a stellar job as the main character's loud and lovable sidekick Walter. Jeff Bridges plays his character so well you forget he's Jeff Bridges. The faults of this film definitely don't lie in the acting. The Big Lebowski is hurt by it's slightly surreal nature, poor editing and excess of useless cameos and ambiguous characters.
Overall this is a comedy that won't appeal to all fans of the genre. The sometimes artsy edge will turn some people off. It is also not the Cohen Brother's best effort in my opinion.