Film Review: The Big Lebowski

Director: Joel and Ethan Coen

The Coen brothers have a certain magic when it comes to make memorable films like Fargo and No Country for Old Men but none are memorable than the cult classic The Big Lebowski. A film that was so popular amongst some fans that a Lebowski fest runs every year in Louisville, Kentucky for fans of the film to gather as well as an online religion called Dudeism which spreads the idea and philosophy of the main character The Dude who is played by Jeff Bridges.

Jeff Bridges as The Dude

The Dude becomes embroiled in a kidnapping of a rich man's wife, Bunny played by Tara Reid, who happens to share the same surname as the Dude (Lebowski). This involves him being beaten up on different occasions and having his favourite rug urinated on and then his replacement stolen (''it really tied the room together''). The Dude has to deliver £1 million dollars to some thugs who have kidnapped Bunny and is helped by his friend Walter (John Goodman) when everything starts to go wrong.

Jeff Bridges and John Goodman are both excellent in their roles, Goodman as the Vietnam vet who just wont let go and Bridges as the laid back Dude who is incredibly likeable. The dialogue between the two creates a lot of the humour within the film as two completely contrasting characters in temperament. In The Dude the Coens have created a persona that thousands of people would love to be.

Superb cameo by John Turturro as Jesus Quintana

The plot itself becomes increasingly complex as the movie shifts towards its conclusion but what actually happens to the characters in the movie is only half of what this film is all about. It's the comic flair that the actors spit out quotable lines that elevates this above so many other movies of this type. Some of the plotlines don't always work but it doesn't really detract from what is a darkly funny film.

3.5/4 cult surreal brilliance by the Coens