I can die with a smile on my face without feeling like the Good Lord gypped me

Rating: 10/10 (27 January 2006)

Without a doubt the funniest film I've ever had the privilege of watching. A magical brew concocted from a script over-flowing with multi-nuanced humour, masterful directing and a cast with the skill and understanding to pull it off.
The plot is a loosely-rendered updating of Raymond Chandler's convoluted detective tales; in this film, the Coen brothers have replaced the genre's traditional anti-hero detective with a drug-addled aging Hippie, and if that makes any sense then all else flows from there ...
Ruminations abound on the ultimate ineffectuality of both the militant and pacifistic factions of America's people, the story is played out in front of the backdrop of the Gulf War (which took place 7 year before the movie was made ..), giving the character's generally incompetent actions a resonance of futility - 'the people' are not only too ineffectual to change the world they live in, they also seem quite content to inhabit their garish world... the fact that the characters barely mention the War itself (besides Walter, an ex-Vietnam vet who's fascination with the killing fields knows no bounds)reflects on their general apathy - the Dude, the 'detective' (who is really a lazy hippie searching for his ratty-assed rug)in this tale, is from the flower-power generation, yet is completely unconcerned with the state of conflict his country finds itself in ... And yet this theme is not over-played, and the laughs come thick and fast, intellectual gags, observational humour, physical comedy, running jokes, character-based funny stuff - the strength of the actual comedy content lies in the sheer variety of absurdity the Coens manage to address in one film ... The two lead characters, the Dude (Jeff Bridges) and Walter (John Goodman) are wonderfully written and brilliantly performed. The support cast are just as wonderful, with Julianne Moore, Steve Buscemi, John Turturro and Sam Elliott all playing their part in keeping the laughs coming ...
The Coen's also introduce a host of eccentric bit-players into the mix; a gang of cricket-bat wielding German Nihlists, Knox Harrington 'the Video artist', the Dude's nervy landlord Marty, Porn King Jackie Treehorn, high school 'brat' Larry Sellers; these seemingly random characters help bring the Coen brothers' L.A. to vivid life ...
The plot itself is full of red-herrings, and after laughing one's way through an initial viewing a few questions will be left hanging; and indeed some of the characters actions remain unclear after the credits have rolled; i.e. *did* little Larry steal the Dude's car ? *who* kept/had/lost the millions dollars ? *was* there a million dollars ?? - the whole chain of events is initially precipitated by a case of mistaken identity, and no-one, the viewers, the characters, seems to know exactly what's going on, adding to the free-wheelin', rambling feel ...
The Coen's trademark razor-sharp dialogue has never been funnier than it is here, once you're hooked you'll never miss an opportunity to drop one of the endless hilarious quotes into conversation, and your friends won't mind as you'll have brain-washed them into loving this incredibly clever comedy film too ... Am I Wrong !?