OK I'm already gone into blog post robbery mode so early on in the new year, so this will be an extended post on one I have already done which is The Big Lebowski (which was one of my earliest) and it will feature a few extra things which weren't in here before. So let's dig out the cool shade and go bowling....
So to start with as usual, here is a but about the plot, which begins with the main character, Jeffrey Lebowski or "The Dude" (Jeff Bridges) being assaulted by two thugs who are looking for some money. However the thugs have got the wrong man, as it soon turns out that they were looking for another Lebowski, who is a millionaire, who's wife Bunny owes money to a man called Jackie Treehorn (Ben Gazzara). On realising their mistake, they leave, but not before one of them takes a pee on the Dude's rug. After this the dude decides to go and approach Lebowski (David Huddleston), the millionaire who is wheelchair bound, to get some compensation for his rug, but Lebowski turns him down, however on his way out, the dude tells Lebowski's associate, Brandt (Philip Seymour Hoffman) that he was to take any rug he wanted. Soon after however, the dude is visited by some people, one of who knocks him out, and after he comes round, he sees that his rug has been taken. Further complications arise when Lebowski contacts the Dude, who tells him that his young trophy wife, Bunny (Tara Reid), has been kidnapped, and he wants the Dude to help get her back, as the kidnappers have sent a letter demanding money.
So the Dude along with his bowling buddie, Walter Sobchak (John Goodman) a hot headed Vietnam veteran, go along to make a pay off, with a case full of money to the kidnappers, however Walter decides to get involved and changes the case of money with a "ringer", which is filled with his old undies! After this, the kidnappers, who are three German nihilists (lead by Peter Stormare) get angry and pay the Dude a visit, while he is at home in his bath, they let a marmot off the leish and throw him into his bath, and they demand their money or they will "cut off his johnson!". Meanwhile the Dude also gets a call from a woman, Maude (Julianne Moore) who turns out to be the daughter of Lebowski, and that she was the one who took the Dude's rug, which which actually belonged to her and was of sentimental value, and asks that the Dude recover the ransom. Maude also reveals that Bunny was in actual fact a porn film star and plays a low rent porn film for him showing this, and that the three nihilists were her friends, the leader being Tortsen Voges (Stormare), who also appeared in the film. The Dude is soon taken to meet Jackie Treehorn, a pornographer and loan shark, who wants to know where Bunny is and his money. The Dude then tells Jackie that the kid, Larry Sellers, who allegedly stole the Dude's car, has his money, but Jackie doesn't believe him and drugs the Dude's drink, who soon passes out, and comes to in a police car, where he is taken to the police chief of Malibu, who warns him to not come back. After the Dude get's back home, he finds his home ransacked, and Maude stands over him, naked, and after a bit of coital action, the Dude soon works out what has been going with Bunny as he suspects that Bunny actually faked her kidnapping and basically she was looking to extort money from her husband, the Big Lebowski, by using nihilist friends. After that the Dude decides to go with Walter to pay the Big Lebowski a visit and confront him about the whole darn thing.
The Big Lebowski is without a doubt one of my favourite comedies, and it remains the funniest of the Cohen brother's films. The Cohen brothers, Joel and Ethan, have been no stranger to comedy, and very strange, quirky comedy at that, but with The Big Lebowski, it seems like they finally got the perfect combination of all those quirky traits together. The film itself however was not well received on its release and had mixed reviews and its only in the interim years that this film has started to gain acclaim and has become something of a cult favourite. In terms of the main character the Cohen brothers actually came up with the idea for the Dude based on a man they met, Jeff Dowd, they met while they were trying to promote their debut film, Blood Simple. Dowd himself was a man who liked to drink White Russain cocktails just like the Dude does in the film and he was also even based on a friend of the Cohen brothers, Peter Exline, who was a former Vietnam veteran who own a squalid apartment and at the time had a small rug which it to quote the Dude, "tied the room together".
Getting on to the performances the film is also great, with Jeff Bridges playing one of his best roles, as the Dude, who is basically just normal average guy, who is a lazy down and out, who hangs around and likes to smoke grass, drink White Russian cocktails and go bowling. And Bridges plays him in quite a cool laidback way and succeeds in actually making him likeable, and while he is no hero, or that much of a detective, you get that he is bright enough to work things out as they go along. Bridges also get's some great lines such as in the scene when he is grabbed roughly by the big Lebowski's limo driver, while he still holds his White Russian drink in his hands and he yells out "Careful, man, there's a beveridge here!". And in this scene the Dude proceeds to be questioned by an angry Lebowski about the ransom money for his young wife, Bonny, and the Dude explains "I've got information. New shit has come to light. And shit, man... she kidnapped herself. Look at it, a young trophy wife, she owes money all over town, including to known pornographers. I'm saying she needs the money, man! And of course they will say they didn't get it because she wants more. She's got to feed the monkey!".
Another funny moment is the Dude's first scene where he is attacked by the two thugs who mistake him for the other Lebowski and one of them says "You're Jeffrey Lebowski, you're wife's Bonny" and The Dude says "My wife?! Do you see a ring on my finger?! Does this place look like I'm fuckin married?! The toilet seat is up, man!". There is also the scene where the Dude is taken on a tour around The Big Lebowski's mansion by his assistant, Brandt and they meet, Lebowski's young trophy wife, Bonny, who tells the Dude "I'll suck your cock for a thousand dollars!" and The Dude is then lead away by a nervous Brandt, and the Dude says "I'm just gonna go and find a cash machine!". Then there is the scene where the Dude in an effort to stop anyone from opening his door, he nails down a block of wood and jams a chair up against the door. And while the Dude does this he is on the phone to Walter, not long after they have unsuccessfully confronted a young teenager about the missing ransom money and the Dude says to Walter "No, Walter I don't think Larry was about to crack! Yes well you're right, Walter, there is an unspoken message here. Its "FUCK YOU!!! LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE!" and then he calmly says after a beat "Yeah I'll be at practise". The Dude then hangs up and the front door is opened from the outside by Jackie Treehorn's thugs and the chair wedged up against the block simply falls down! And there is also the scene where the Dude having just gotten his car back after it was stolen, happily listens to some Creedence on his tapedeck, whilst he smokes a joint and drinks a beer and he goes to flick it out the window but neglects to notice that the window is still shut and it lands in his lap and he ends up pouring his beer on his crotch and crashes his car! And lastly another funny scene is where The Dude after having had some sex with Maude watches her curl herself into a foetel position and he asks her what she is doing and Maude says "It helps increase the chances of conception" and the Dude proceeds to violently spit out his drink!
John Goodman is also terrific as Walter, the half crazed, hot headed, Vietnam veteran, who is so confident in his opinions, but half the time he is wrong, especially when he thinks that the big Lebowski can actually walk at the end (which we soon find out he can't when Walter drops him out of his wheelchair!). Goodman also get's pretty much the best lines of the film, and my favourite scene in the whole movie is where he interrogates a kid, Larry Sellers, who they think stole the money and the Dude's car, and he says to him "Have you ever heard of Vietnam, Larry??? You're enterting a world of pain, son! You're killing your father, Larry!". After this he proceeds to go out and smash up a fancy sports car, which he assumes belongs to Larry, which actually belongs to a next door neighbour, ranting at Larry "this is what happens when you fuck a stranger in the ass!!". Another funny scene with Walter is when he is at the bowling alley with The Dude and Donny and one of the rival team members apparently plays a foul shot as Walter yells out "OVER THE LINE!". And as the man argues with Walter, Walter takes out a gun and says "Smokey, you mark that eight and you're entering a world of pain! A world of pain!" and as Smokey protests, Walter points the gun at him and says "Have I gone crazy?! AM I THE ONLY WHO GIVES A SHIT ABOUT THE RULES?!! MARK IT ZERO!!" and he continues "MARK IT ZERO! You think I'm fuckin around?! MARK IT ZERO!!". Another funny scene from Goodman is when Walter goes along with The Dude on the drop to give the kidnappers the ransom money and Walter has "a ringer" which is a briefcase full of his old undies. And Walter says to The Dude as he also produces an uzi submachine gun, "At fifteen mph, I'll roll out, double back and beat it out one of them!" and in regards to the uzi "You didn't think I was gonna roll out here naked, did you?!". And as Walter rolls out the car so does his uzi which sprays bullets all over the road, which also hit the back of the Dude's car and after they failed to make the drop off, Walter stands idly on the road and says "fuck it, Dude! Let's go bowling!". Another good is when the Dude meets with Walter at a coffee shop and he shows Walter a severed toe sent a message from the kidnappers, which Walter mocks saying "I can't get you a toe! Believe me there are ways. You don't wanna know". And as the Dude continues worrying about the toe, Walter yells "FORGET ABOUT THE FUCKING TOE!" and the owner complains about his outburst and Walter says to the woman "Excuse me, dear? The supreme court has roundly rejected prior restraint!" and then "Lady I've got buddies who died face down in the muck so that you and I can enjoy this family restaurant!".
The other cast members are also really good, particularly Julianne Moore as Maude, the cool tempered feminist, who asks the Dude to help get the ransom money back, and later on has sex with him, in order to help her conceive a baby (purely for her own reasons, but not to ask the Dude to be a father to the baby). Moore also has some good scenes such as her first one where after performing some bizzare overhead painting, whilst hanging from a wire, naked, she then get's and dresses and goes over to the Dude and says "My art has been commended as being strongly vaginal which bothers some men. The world itself makes some men uncomfortable. Vagina!". And later on when the Dude finds Maude at his apartment, Maude stands over him wearing the Dude's robe, she simply says "Jeffrey. Love me!" and strips off with the Dude only managing a feeble "that's my robe!". Steve Buscemi is also priceless, as the Dude and Walter's less than bright bowling buddie, Donny, who keeps wandering in on the middle of the Dude's conversations, and is often the butt of Walter's cruel put downs, and the often used line "shut the fuck up, Donny!". I also loved the scene with Donny when he hears Walter and The Dude mention something that the Russian revolutionary Lenin once said, but Donny mistakes it to be John Lennon and he says "I am the Walrus?".
David Huddleston is very good as the title character, the Big Lebowski, the tetchy millionaire, who is wheelbound and insists that the Dude go and get his wife back, although as the film progresses it appears that he doesn't really want his wife back, and he just used the Dude in his own ploy. Huddleston also has some good scenes such as his first scene where Lebowski meets with the Dude and is less than impressed by him and he says to the Dude "Did I urinate on your rug?! I just want to understand this, sir. Every time a rug is micturated upon in this fair city, I have to compensate the owner?!". And at the end of the scene as the Dude starts to walk out "You're revolution is over, Mr Lebowski. Condolences. The bums lost. My advice is to do what your parents did: get a job, sir! The bums will always lose! Do you hear, Mr Lebowski?! THE BUMS WILL ALWAYS LOSE!".
And Peter Stormare is funny as the nihilist, Voges, who threatens to cut off the Dude's johnson (or chonson as the script says!), and its a far cry from his chilling portrayal of Grimsrud from Fargo, and in the end Voges is actually just a coward, which Walter later proves by kicking his ass. Stormare has amusing scenes as well such as the scene where Voges barges into the Dude's apartment whilst he has a bath and drops a ferret into his bathtub and says "We vant the money Lebowski! We believe in nothing, Lebowski. Nothing! And tomorrow we come back and cut off your Johnson!". Stormare also has a hilarious moment where Voges turns out to be a porno actor and Maude shows the Dude a cheesy porn film called "Log jammin" which has Voges turn up dressed as a TV repair man at a flat with two mostly naked girls.
John Turturro, occassional regular in Cohen brother films, is also really good as Jesus, the egomaniac bowler, and paedophile, who delivers one of the best lines which he says to Walter about pulling his gun at the bowling alley "If you do that to me, I will take that gun from you and shove it up your ass and pull the trigger to it goes click!" and also that "No one fucks with the Jesus!". And finally Sam Elliott as the film's narrator does a fine job, with his deep Southern voice, providing the perfect voice over for the movie, and appears briefly in the middle and at the end of the film. Elliott has a good little scene where he appears at the bar in the bowling alley and he speaks to the Dude and tells him "I like your style, Dude" and then says "There's just one thing: do you have to use so many cuss words?" and the Dude stares at him and says "What the fuck are you talkin about, man??" and the narrator smiles and says "Alright Dude, have it your way".
Getting onto the Cohen brothers themselves who couldn't really have done a better job here as they pace out the film nicely and it doesn't feel overly long and their script is hilarious and as usual they know how to coax fine performances from their cast (but I've already just mentioned all that of course!). The film also has a good soundtrack, and while I'm not a fan of Bob Dylan, they use his song "The Man in Me" very well (even though I'm not a fan of the song either!) over the title sequence. And other songs are well used, particularly Creedence's "Looking out my back door" and "Running through the Jungle". And one of my favourite tracks used in the film is Kenny Rogers "Just dropped in", which is again well used in the Dude's dream sequence, as he plays the lead part in a film "Gutterballs!". Great name.
As for flaws..... The Big Lebowski has some small niggles, to start with it has to be said it is a film that is probably guilty of being in the love or loathe category, so it may not be a comedy to everyone's taste. Another issue, albeit not a serious one is the large amount of profanity in the film, as it starts to feel like the Cohen's were trying to push in as many f words as they possibly could (in fact on a sad nerdy note there are over 280 uses of the word fuck in all in the film!) just to try and get some laughs out of it, but in the end it does feel a bit forced and whole load of swearing doesn't really make a great film. And one prime example of this is how Walter continually uses the line "shut the fuck up, Donny" practically every time Donny says something, which soon becomes tiresome and is only funny when he stops saying it at one point when Donny mentions a change in the bowling schedule. And lastly another silly aspect are the dream sequences, which are pretty daft, with the Dude dreaming of being a star in the film Gutterballs, and also flying on his magic rug through the skies at night. In fact they are the only really tedious parts of the film, that aside its all good.
So that's it for my extended look at The Big Lebowski, which was fun to look at again and to this day is still one the Cohen brothers funniest comedies.
And that is that! Till next time, take her easy, dude.
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