Fellman's Movie Reviews

Red = Spoilers 

The Big Lebowski is a classic of comedy written by the Coen Brothers that has become such a cult classic that it has created its own religion. You can become a verified Dudist Priest. That’s a real thing. And the religion is all about what you think it is. Smoking weed and hanging out. Abiding. Just, abiding, man…  

What’s it about? So, we start by getting some back story by a man known simply as “The Stranger” in the credits. You’ll see him a little later in a cowboy outfit. But for right now, all you hear is his voice. And he’s just talking about The Dude. You see The Dude write a check for $.69 for a half a gallon of milk and make his way home. When he gets there, he gets attacked by a couple of thugs who think he is somebody else and one of them pees on his rug. Which, you’ll soon find out, really tied the room together. He goes to the bowling alley to tell his bowling partners Walter and Donny about what happened. Walter suggests that the other Lebowski compensate The Dude for his rug. The Dude goes to the other Lebowski and tricks him into leaving with one of his many rugs. On his way out, he meets Bunny, The Big Lebowski’s trophy wife. Soon after, Bunny is apparently kidnapped, and The Big Lebowski wants to hire The Dude to be the bagman to get Bunny back. Walter, convinced that Bunny kidnapped herself, tries to fake the money drop so they can keep the money and then go bowling. When they come back out, The Dude’s car has been stolen. He finds a piece of paper belonging to one “Larry Sellers”. They go to Larry’s house and try to get him to talk, but he doesn’t. Walter ends up smashing a neighbor’s car, who in turn, ends up smashing The Dude’s car. Jackie Treehorn has some thugs go and kidnap The Dude and bring them to his place in Malibu where he tries to get his money from The Dude. The Dude ends up getting drugged and winds up in the police station of Malibu getting accosted by the Chief of Police. When he gets back home, Maude is waiting for him so they can have sex and help her conceive. The Dude puts everything together and calls Walter so they can go to The Big Lebowski’s house and confront him. When they get there, Bunny has returned, and they find out she was visiting some friends. The Dude and Walter go bowling to put everything behind them and when they come out of the parking lot, the Germans are waiting for them. After a confrontation, Donny has a heart attack and dies. The Dude and Walter scatter his ashes on the beach of the Pacific Ocean and the last thing The Dude sees is the Stranger, sitting at the bar, as The Dude walks off to go bowling again. 

What’s good? As usual, with the Coen brothers, it’s one of the greatest scripts I’ve ever heard. The dialogue, the soundtrack, everything that goes into it is just masterful. 

What’s bad? This is one of the most famous movies of all time. Try to find something that’s bad. Most people aren’t going to give you anything. 

The acting? The only bad acting in the movie is the intentionally bad acting in “Logjammin”, the porno movie that Maude shows to The Dude. Other than that, there’s not a whole lot of bad acting going on in The Big Lebowski… 

The effects? They’re pretty top-notch for 1998. As far as what the industry could do, they did. And as far as what the costumes looked like in the dream sequence; I’m sure they were supposed to look like that. It wasn’t for a lack of funding or ability or anything. 

It really tied the room together. That rug really tied the room together. It was the whole point of the movie. Without it, there is no movie. That rug is the reason that The Dude went over to The Big Lebowski’s in the first place.  

Walter’s anger problem. Walter’s got a real anger issue. He’s pulling guns on the bowling lane. He’s bashing people’s cars on the street. He’s yelling in restaurants. He’s just an angry guy.  

Over the line. Walter pulling the gun is a moot argument because Smokey wasn’t even over the line. Walter just pulled a gun on him for no reason. He essentially just pulled a gun at somebody and threatened to shoot them, and they didn’t even do anything. 

Maude’s painting. What is that a picture of, anyway? It’s a real Jackson Pollack kind of thing. I don’t know why it’s vaginal. It just seems kind of messy. 

Jackie Treehorn’s place. Jackie Treehorn has a really nice setup going on there. The sunken living room and the shag carpets. But shag carpets coming in from the beach, that must get really messy, I would imagine. Who’s cleaning that all the time? 

Jackie’s drawing. Did he just draw that for no reason while he was on the phone? While he was talking to whoever he was on the phone with, did he just doodle a little guy with a gigantic penis? What is that about? No wonder he sells porn. 

The soundtrack is excellent. The soundtrack to The Big Lebowski is excellent. A lot of classic rock and some old bluegrass stuff that The Coen Brothers tend to use in a lot of their movies.  

The Logjammin dream sequence. The Logjammin dream sequence is real fun because of how surreal it gets for no reason. There’s the bowling theme which is understandable. But why is she dressed as a viking? And why is he dressed as a repairman? Well, I guess, I can put the repairman together, now that I think about it. I’m not getting the viking, though… 

So, yeah. Go and see The Big Lebowski if you haven’t already. Which you already should have. Because it’s 20 years old, and one of the most famous comedies ever, ever. And as always, keep on watching, with a smile on your face…