Year: 1998
Director(s): Joel and Ethan Coen
Country: US
Language: English
This is like, just my opinion man, but I feel that The Big Lebowski is one the greatest comedies of all time. Motion picture comedy began with a simple comic situation; in the Lumiere Brothers' L'Arroseur Arrose (The Watering Gardener, 1895) in which a young boy steps on a garden hose as a gardener waters a lawn, cutting off the water, only to step off just as the gardener looks into the nozzle and thus is sprayed with the water that is restored. Since then comedy has become much more complicated and reached fantastic heights, but rarely has it gone past the "dude" level.
In this fantastic Cohen Brothers film "The Dude" Lebowski (Jeff Bridges) is mistaken for a millionaire Lebowski (David Huddleston) and two thugs urinate on his rug to coerce him into paying a debt he knows nothing about. While attempting to gain recompense for the ruined rug from his wealthy counterpart, he accepts a one-time job with high pay-off. However, it seems that everyone from nihilist to porn tycoons want something from "The Dude"
It is widely known that The Dude was inspired by a real man named Jeff Dowd; a freelance publicist who was essential in launching the first Coen Brothers film, Blood Simple, into the mainstream. The Dude is a calm collected and cool man who just wants to relax, smoke some weed, lay on his rug and drink some white Russians. The character's worldview is so popular that a religion called Dudeism was invented and now has 150,000+ followers and more than a thousand dude-ist priests (though it is really easy to become one). A serious book was also made about The Dude called The Dude Abides: The Gospel According to the Coen Brothers by Cathleeen Falsani and has become a tremendous success in the literary world.
Though there is a great deal of plot and surrealism, the Gutterballs dream/dance sequence is strange yet funny, the real emphasis is on the attitude of the character. No matter how much life gets The Dude down, he always gets up & tries to be as relaxed as possible. The Big Lebowski is essentially just a film about not taking life too seriously like Vietnam maniac Walter Sobchak (John Goodman) and just relaxing. In many ways the film is quite spiritual. The Coens visual style in this film also really stands out; there is great architecture detail, lonely vistas, looming cityscapes and incredibly realistic settings.
In conclusion, While I'm not as much a fan of The Big Lebowski as the many dude-ist priests in the world, I do think that this is one of the greatest comedies of all time. Its relaxed and fun nature allow for multiple viewings and a new worldview that just says "relax man". Jeff Bridges has never acted better, and even the supporting characters are absolutely hilarious. The Critic Abides! 5/5
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