...I have no idea why...
If you find yourself in the same situation as I was in, don't expect the world's most uproariously funny comedy. What you should expect, however, is a lot of cursing. Specifically, the "F-bomb," as they call it in the parlance of our times, is used an astounding number of times. Nearly continually, in fact. This was especially interesting to me, since The Big Lebowski is touted as being highly quotable. You may quote The Big Lebowski, but you'll probably want to self-censor a lot of those quotes if you're at work, school or otherwise in public.
You should also expect awkwardness. Many of the quotable sayings stick out because they're awkwardly structured, they're awkwardly inappropriate for the situation or the character they're coming from is just incredibly awkward, themselves. I would say that the characters are "stereotypes," but they're actually more of a strange blend of stereotypes, creating unique, if unlikely, characters whose very existence is, to some degree, comical.
The Big Lebowski was not a box-office smash. There is probably a reason for that. It's not the kind of movie that you can completely "get" in a single sitting. Over time, however, a very, very strong fan following has developed, leading to not only an annual Lebowski Fest, but even a religion partially based on the Dude. There might be a reason for some of that, too. This popularity also led to the scarcity that made it difficult for me to actually get the movie.
So, The Big Lebowski is the name of the movie, and, if you will, the name of the particular "caper" that occurs in the movie, but the main character actually isn't the big Lebowski. Yes, the Dude (Jeff Bridges) does have the same name - Jeffery Lebowski - as a local over-achieving disabled multi-millionaire (David Huddleston), but our protagonist isn't a millionaire; he's a slacker. An unemployed under-achiever who enjoys spends his days taking it easy and drinking white Russians - or "Caucasians," as he calls them. Also, he doesn't go by "Lebowski"; He goes by "The Dude," and that's what people call him. That, or Duder. His Dudeness. Or El Duderino, if, you know, you're not into the whole brevity thing.
The Dude's best friend, confidante, bowling teammate and cohort in crime is Walter Sobchak (John Goodman) - a Polish-American Vietnam vet who converted to the Jewish faith when he married his (now ex-) wife. He has a tendency to bring up his fellow soldiers who "died face down in the muck" when in a confrontation and has anger management issues which result in, among other things, an armed confrontation in a league game, where Sobchak pulls a handgun on an opposing bowler to ensure that his score is recorded as a zero when he accidentally stepped over the line while bowling. He also tends to be a schemer, turning the Dude's various strange predicaments into money-making opportunities.
Rounding out their bowling team is Theodore Donald "Donny" Kerabatsos (Steve Buscemi), who... well, tends to annoy Walter Sobchak quite a bit, prompting Walter to frequently tell him to shut up. As the story unfolds, though, you'll see that Walter cares for Donny more than his abrupt discounting would suggest.
As our story begins, we find the Dude is having a bad week. He starts by picking up some Half and Half at the grocery store and, upon returning home, finds a couple of goons waiting to ambush him in his low-rent, dingy apartment. In a case of mistaken identity, they try to get money out of him... money owed to Adult Industry Tycoon Jackie Treehorn (Ben Gazzara) by the rich Lebowski's wife, Bunny (Tara Reid). The Dude manages to point out their mistake by telling them that he's not married and quite obviously not rich, but not before one of the goons, Woo (Philip Moon) - aka the Chinaman - pees on his favorite rug, ruining it. (Which is really sad, as that rug really tied the room together.)
In general, the Dude is the kind of guy that lets things go and just sort of "abides," if you will... but the rug really got to him, so he talks about it with Walter while they're bowling. Walter thinks he's looking at it all wrong... as far as Walter's concerned, the Chinaman is not the issue. He thinks the millionaire Lebowski should be held accountable for his wife's, well, accounts... so he convinces the Dude to attempt to get reimbursement for his rug from the big Lebowski.
While the Dude and Mr. Lebowski don't see eye to eye, the Dude does manage to obtain a replacement rug and meets Lebowski's porn-star trophy wife, Bunny Lebowski - a wonderful woman. Very free-spirited. This meeting also leads to Mr. Lebowski sending for the Dude to return via his assistant, the suck-up Mr. Brandt (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and serve as his courier to deliver a million-dollar-ransom when Bunny gets kidnapped.
The Dude agrees to handle the exchange, as he thinks it very well may be a case of Bunny kidnapping herself to get the ransom money to pay off her debts. Walter horns in on the money drop, but replaces the ransom with a "ringer" - a brief case filled with, fittingly enough, Walter's dirty briefs. His plan is to get Bunny back, but keep the ransom money for he and the Dude.
It may not come as a surprise, but the drop doesn't go well, and they don't get Bunny. They're not too worried about it, though, as they figure it was all fake, anyway. However, the Dude has his second thoughts when he is given a package that had been delivered to Mr. Lebowski - a package containing a female toe with the same toe polish that Bunny had been applying when the Dude met her. Walter, however, still thinks it's all fake, claiming he could get a toe by that afternoon.
And, from there it gets strange. Along his journey, the Dude will encounter Mr. Lebowski's ultra-feminist artistic daughter, Maude Lebowski (Julianne Moore), who plays the closest thing the Dude has to a love interest in the movie and whose art has been commended as being strongly vaginal. He also meets Jackie Treehorn (the Adult Entertainment Tycoon), has a run-in with the Malibu police department and comes up against a trio of Nihilists (No, nothing to be afraid of). The Dude also manages to get knocked out on multiple occasions. Whether it be from being punched out or drugged, he has a tendency to leave consciousness behind, which makes for a couple of really well-filmed dream sequences.
In the end, some things have changed, but others have stayed much the same. I found that the ending didn't have the conclusive closure that I typically prefer. Again, the hype could have something to do with it, but the movie seemed to start and end en media res. The Stranger (Sam Elliot) - a parody of the stranger that was the storyteller in old Westerns - serves as a narrator - well, at least for the beginning and the end - and wraps the movie up by saying, "it's good knowing he's out there - the Dude - takin' her easy for all us sinners," and then sort of rambling on about the cycle of life and how it applies to "the human comedy." It's funny that the "narrator" only meets the Dude twice in the film, both briefly at the bar in the bowling alley... and that both at the beginning and the end, he rambles so much that, at one part, he loses his train of thought.
John Turturro gives an excellent performance as Jesus Quintana, a Latino ex-con who is on an opposing bowling team in the same bowling league. This creep can really bowl, but he is a sex offender. With a record. Spent six months in Chino for exposing himself to an eight-year-old. He somehow makes bowling seem like a sex act... and a lewd one at that.
For those who are already fans of The Big Lebowski and are wondering if they should upgrade their collection and spring for the Limited Edition Blu-Ray version, here's some food for thought. Most of the special features here are the same ones that were on the 10th Anniversary DVD. However, the movie has some great cinematography and really "pops" on Blu-ray - especially in the artsy and high-contrast dream sequences. Further, there are some Blu-ray exclusive features, such as "U-Control" features, including Scene Companion, which adds picture-in-picture special features, helping to maintain their context to the film, Mark It, Dude, an on-screen counter that keeps track of "F-bombs," "Dudes" and Lebowski-isms, and The Music of The Big Lebowski, which allows you to easily identify the songs from the movie and create a custom playlist that will play the scenes that feature the songs you select. You also get a Digital Copy, so you can watch The Big Lebowski on the go. There is also a Trivia game called, "Worthy Adversaries: What's My Line? Trivia," which lets up to two players play as Dude or Walter and guess the upcoming line at certain points in the movie. I enjoyed the concept, but would have preferred the prompts to be more frequent. As it is, they are a bit scarce and far-between. Finally, there is also the "pocket BLU app," which allows you to use your smartphone or tablet to control the Blu-ray features and stream content. This app is available for iPhone, iPad, Android and other platforms.
I liked the Interactive Map feature, which shows the locations at which many of the scenes were filmed. However, the place I most wanted to see more information about was the beautiful and modern house that served as Treehorn's house in the film: The James F. Goldstein residence, designed by John Lautner. Sadly, this feature said nothing about that house, but you can check it out using the link below.
Tying for my favorite special feature would be "A Unique Introduction" which is a funny tongue-in-cheek intro to the movie showing how it the movie was restored and the feature where Jeff Bridges shares his photo book with us, showing the photos he took, as well as some insight into the making of the movie and the people that worked on the movie. He even talks a bit about the novel panning panoramic camera he used to take the pictures. I enjoyed both of these features immensely, but in different ways.
In the end? Well, I reckon I would recommend the movie... if you're still reading and you like what you're hearing. It's not the best movie ever made, so you shouldn't expect it to be, but it's a wild ride and a good time. If you're offended by strong language, alcohol usage, the depiction of illegal drug usage, nudity, sex, dismembered toes, automotive destruction, Nihilists or marmots, then you'd best be moseyin' along. If not, you might want to check out The Big Lebowski: Limited Edition... and when you're done, if you happen to talk to my sister, let her know what you think.
