The Big Lebowski (1998)
Great movies make you want to do the things that they do in the movie. Rounders makes me want to play poker. Poolhall Junkies makes me want to play a few games of 9-ball. The Big Lebowski makes me want to bowl man.
What a life The Dude (Jeff Bridges) has got going for him. In the early '90s in Los Angeles, a voiceover (Sam Elliot) tells us in an old-timey western gravelly voice, The Dude is the man for his time & place. The Dude's legal name is Jeffery Lebowski, & he's an unemployed .. I can't find the right word to describe him. He's just The Dude, man.
How a calm guy like the dude ever became best friends with a high-strung, prone to violence, Vietnam vet like Walter Sobchuk (John Goodman) is beyond me. He seems like he'd get along better with their other friend, the passive, quiet Donny (Steve Buschemi). Anyways, The Dude, Walter & Donny are all on a bowling team together. It seems to be The Dude's only thing, bowling, until one night he comes home & two thugs dunk his head in his toilet asking for the money.
Turns out there's another Jeffrey Lebowski. Another Lebowski, 'cept this one's big-time rich. Wires got crossed & now they've pulled The Dude into a bizarre kidnapping / ransom / extortion scheme, when all he wants to do is smoke up, listen to some CCR & go bowling man.
The Coen Brothers know how to shoot a beautiful movie, & The Big Lebowski is all gorgeous colours & dark shadows. They make bowling look as gorgeous as The Legend of Bagger Vance made golfing look. The movie is one of the better written comedies I've ever had the honour to watch. It's so ridiculously off-beat the web The Dude gets himself into. How him & his bumbling sidekick Walter ever come out ahead is also, beyond me.
Simply put, this is a smart stoner comedy. But there's much more to The Big Lebowski than just pot & old music. In fact, that's barely a part of it. Bowling man, bowling. Jeff Bridges has never been finer than in his performance of The Dude. Fuckin' A, man, fuckin' A. 5 outta 5, & a Skooch Hall of Fame Movie.
Roger Ebert's review of The Big Lebowski (1998)