The Big Lebowski (1998) - Originally Written August 11, 2012

The Big Lebowski (1998) 

Whatever I write after this, I fully own that I do not do the greatness of this movie/film anything even close to resembling justice; but I'm certainly going to try. . .

Watching the Movie: 

Look up "Character focused comedy" in the dictionary and you'll see this film. Lots of stories are about the characters and how they react to the events around them; but in this instance, the characters ARE the story (as the Cohen brothers have done "a kidnapping plot gets screwed up" a handful of times and a handful of different ways; and the characters make all the difference. As much as anything, I can boil the movie down to the simplest terms by pointing out that several people who LOVE this movie (like I do) absolutely abhor the far more critically acclaimed and beloved Cohen Brothers flick "Fargo" (1996) and vice-versa

Screening the film: 

Friendship, loyalty, betrayal. Social responsibilities, confrontation vs avoidance, law enforcement, America in a historical context (the film is set in the early 1990's, and is almost 15 years old) perception vs reality, artistic expression, societal labels and groupings, man vs self (with particular focus on how one sees himself, conducts himself, and how he views his own place in terms of society); and probably a thousand others.

Best Dialogue:

"The Dude abides. I don't know about you but I take comfort in that. It's good knowin' he's out there. The Dude. Takin' 'er easy for all us sinners. Shoosh. I sure hope he makes the finals...."

The Bottom Line:

I'll never forget the first time I watched "The Big Lebowski" whilst I was pulling down minimum wage at Blockbuster Video during my senior year of High School. I wasn't quite sure what the hell I had just seen, but I knew that I really, REALLY liked it. It was funny without seeming silly, forced and contrived (all reasons I actually really HATE "Fargo" FWIW), but there was something else going on inside Lebowski that I could never really put into words. Now, some 15 years later, I still can't really put into words, but its something anyone who's ever spent real time discussing the film with another achiever totally gets. Anytime you can look at someone and say "Thank you Donnie" or "Life does not start and stop at your convenience you miserable piece of shit", or even a simple "Those are good burgers Walter," you immediately feel like you are amongst family, even if the person is a complete stranger...

That's the appeal of The Big Lebowski, it's a perfect documentation of all the little quixotic moments that bring people together and truly connect us as part of a shared existence; rather than just having cohabitating this same ball of oxygen floating around the sun. It's about being very different, but still very much the same. And that's why it is the textbook definition of a modern masterpiece.
 

5 out of 5.

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