This...this is not a worthy adversary...

Rating: 10/10 (12 February 2007)

This is a film that is hard to describe. When anyone asks what it's about, I just say, "The Dude".
The plot is simple, but well-written. The characters are great, and the dialogue is really nothing short of perfect. This is coupled with star talent used to its fullest potential. There is no one else who could be The Dude, Jeff Bridges just is. John Goodman is hilarious as the short-fused Vietnam vet Walter, and Steve Buscemi plays a different role than usual, but he still is given great moments because the three main characters play off each other so well. The script is endlessly quotable.
Now this is not to say that the dialogue and characters alone make the movie funny. Comedy bleeds through at almost every scene in the unusual locations and series of events that occur. Maybe the funniest scene ever in a movie to me occurs when The Dude gets his car back and good old CCR comes on the radio playing "Lookin' Out My Back Door," and Dude pounds on the roof, drinkin' a beer and smokin' a jane all at the same time, and he of course ends up crashing into a dumpster. Total Classic.
But maybe one thing that I find so great about this comedy is that even though I've seen it five or six times in the past couple years, I always see something or get something new, every time. And everyone should dig the idea that The Dude really is someone we all could learn from. I mean, he really just doesn't care about the views of him from society. He just lives as he wants, and he doesn't hurt anyone.
Now I'm not saying he's a hero, because what's a hero? But sometimes, there's a man, and I'm talking' about The Dude here. Sometimes, there's a man, who, well, he's the man of his time and place. He just fits right in there.