Starring Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Julianne Moore, Tara Reid, David Huddleston, David Thewlis, Sam Elliot, John Turturro, Ben Gazzara, Peter Stormare, Jon Polito, Dom Irrera

(9-Great Film)

Funny. Eccentric. Original.

The Dude: [repeated line by The Dude and others] That rug really tied the room together.

Jeff Lebowski (Bridges), or “The Dude,” would seem to be the last person to get involved in an elaborate kidnapping plot. He doesn’t do much with his life but bowl, smoke weed, and drink White Russians. That is, until a couple of thugs soil his rug, mistaking him for another Lebowski, forcing The Dude to seek reimbursement and involving him with a lot of characters that use to populate Raymond Chandler novels. I love those Raymond Chandler novels and would like to see the Coen Bros. adapt one outright. That’s unlikely to happen, but The Big Lebowski, as offbeat as it is, still satisfies as a crime flick while working on so many other levels that its become a cult classic. Wildly original storytelling and characters with dozens of quotable lines.

-Walter Tyrone Howard-

(1,085)