Now this is a movie I watched almost a year back & loved every second of it & when I watched it again a month back , i enjoyed it as much as I had at my first viewing. Now why I didnt review a movie I loved so much??? the reason is the reputation of its directorS The Coen brothers. They have a legendery reputation behind them before they made this one. After all it’s not a bad thing to have Fargo, Miller’s Crossing and Raising Arizona to be the standard against which you’re measured. I wanted to watch atleast FARGO & Raising Arizona before I comment of these two genius, which I failed to & lost my patience. Why lose anymore time to introduce the world to the legend of The Dude.
There is an incident which I would like to tell u guys -there was this weekend some 6 months back when HBO was showing FOREST GUMP , Star Movies The Big Lebowski & [V] was high on PINK FLOYD WEEKEND....talking about choices we have :). Now Forest Gump is a movie which can enter my all time top ten movie list. Pink Floyd is a band with which I never compare other bands. And I had seen this LEBOWSKI movie once before also. So what did I choose to watch? I watched the first half of LEBOWSKI till [V] started showing some amazing PINK FLOYD works.So now u know how much I loved DUDE.
PLOT-
The Big Lebowski centers around one character: The Dude (Jeff Bridges). His real name is Jeff Lebowski, but he likes to refer to himself as Dude. Perhaps the main reason he refers to himself this way is because there is another Jeff Lebowski , or ’’The Big Lebowski’’ who is a millionaire, and this confusion is what begins the film’s plot. The Dude is probably the laziest person to ever grace Los Angeles. He is jobless, and spends his day at the bowling alley with his two pals Donny (Steve Buscemi) and Walter (John Goodman). The Dude gets mistaken for the other Lebowski, whose young, sexy wife(not to forget ex-porn star) owes money to others. The bad guys beat up The Dude and pee on his rug before realizing they’ve made a mistake, and he tries (urged by Walter) to get the rich Lebowski to replace his rug. Instead, The Dude gets drawn into a kidnapping/ransom scheme involving the wife, the rich Lebowski’s daughter(Julianne Moore), a porn king, and some Germans.
Though this was my first Coens movie (someone please review Millers Crossing for me) their reputation wasnt unknown to me esp after FARGO’s Oscar’s. They are mostly known for two things: writing, and picking the perfect cast. The screenplay of The Big Lebowski isn’t much about the plot(though its not less complicated) than it is about dialogue and characters. The Coens could give Tarantino competetion for producing smart dialogue that completely fits each character. The characters’ words always seem realistic. And that leads to the excellent cast. Jeff Bridges IS The Dude, a low-life who smokes pot all the time, while drinking and bowling. Bridges makes a seemingly likeable character pleasant to watch. This is the best of Jeff Bridges I have ever seen. A role he will be remembered forever for those who like this movie(not everybody will). Trouble keeps knocking at the Dude’s door, and he keeps answering with the same stoned smile. Bridges has seemingly worn himself into the role.
There r some experiments with visuals too , the movie includes many colorful locations and sets. The bowling alley is the centerpiece of the film, providing some stunning cinematography (we actually get to see a bowling ball traveling down the lane from inside one of the holes) people will clearly remember the hallucigenic bowling trip sequence. This movie was well accepted among the audiences in US (by Coen brothers standards) of course it wasnt a flop either. As Bridges protests in the movie, ’’But I’m the Dude, man.’’ The Dude deserves better than this.
This movie is certainly not for serious types who forgot the spelling of FUN on the way of growing old. I loved this movie & would recommend to anybody who gives importance to the script of any movie.I’m sure if u r a fan of these two brothers u’ll love every moment of this movie. Hell i’m going to get FARGO right now.