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List Price: $19.95 | | Label: Polygram USA Video
Salesrank: 35150
Released: October 27, 1998 |
| Our Price: $33.25 |
| Used Price: $4.99 |
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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
After the tight plotting and quirky intensity of Fargo, this casually amusing follow-up from the prolifically inventive Coen (Ethan and Joel) brothers seems like a bit of a lark, and the result was a box-office disappointment. The good news is, The Big Lebowski is every bit a Coen movie, and its lazy plot is part of its laidback charm. After all, how many movies can claim as their hero a pot-bellied, pot-smoking loser named Jeff "The Dude" Lebowski (Jeff Bridges) who spends most of his time bowling and getting stoned? And where else could you find a hairnetted Latino bowler named Jesus (John Turturro) who sports dazzling purple footgear, or an erotic artist (Julianne Moore) whose creativity consists of covering her naked body in paint, flying through the air in a leather harness, and splatting herself against a giant canvas? Who else but the Coens would think of showing you a camera view from inside the holes of a bowling ball, or an elaborate Busby Berkely-styled musical dream sequence involving a Viking goddess and giant bowling pins? The plot--which finds Lebowski involved in a kidnapping scheme after he's mistaken for a rich guy with the same name--is almost beside the point. What counts here is a steady cascade of hilarious dialogue, great work from Coen regulars John Goodman and Steve Buscemi, and the kind of cinematic ingenuity that puts the Coens in a class all their own. Be sure to watch with snacks in hand, because The Big Lebowski might give you a giddy case of the munchies. --Jeff Shannon
Description of The Big Lebowski:
After the tight plotting and quirky intensity of Fargo, this casually amusing follow-up from the prolifically inventive Coen (Ethan and Joel) brothers seems like a bit of a lark, and the result was a box-office disappointment. The good news is, The Big Lebowski is every bit a Coen movie, and its lazy plot is part of its laidback charm. After all, how many movies can claim as their hero a pot-bellied, pot-smoking loser named Jeff "The Dude" Lebowski (Jeff Bridges) who spends most of his time bowling and getting stoned? And where else could you find a hairnetted Latino bowler named Jesus (John Turturro) who sports dazzling purple footgear, or an erotic artist (Julianne Moore) whose creativity consists of covering her naked body in paint, flying through the air in a leather harness, and splatting herself against a giant canvas? Who else but the Coens would think of showing you a camera view from inside the holes of a bowling ball, or an elaborate Busby Berkely-styled musical dream sequence involving a Viking goddess and giant bowling pins? The plot--which finds Lebowski involved in a kidnapping scheme after he's mistaken for a rich guy with the same name--is almost beside the point. What counts here is a steady cascade of hilarious dialogue, great work from Coen regulars John Goodman and Steve Buscemi, and the kind of cinematic ingenuity that puts the Coens in a class all their own. Be sure to watch with snacks in hand, because The Big Lebowski might give you a giddy case of the munchies. --Jeff Shannon
The Big Lebowski Reviews:
You mark that frame an 8, and you're entering a world of pain... 
2009-11-05 - This movie is filled with memorable quote after quote. The characters are amazingly polished, each one on its own stands up and the whole is just genius. As with Raising Arizona, The Big Lebowski gives us a protagonist whose dopey innocence seems to be his only protection from the real world. The film was simply too disjointed, too weird and too Coenesque to cut it with mainstream viewers. Screw the mainstream this movie this great, once you "get it" that is, which could be some people's problem.
Maude Lebowski: What do you do for recreation?
The Dude: Oh, the usual. I bowl. Drive around. The occasional acid flashback.
Review: The Big Lebowski (1998) 
2009-10-22 - Director: Joel Coen
Writer: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Starring: Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, Julianne Moore, David Huddleston, Philip Seymour Hoffman, John Turturro, Sam Elliott
Joel and Ethan have been making fantastic movies for a while now, but The Big Lebowski will always be their most popular. It's one of those films you immediately think of when the words "cult classic" come up. With so many memorable characters and a story you won't soon forget (if you can follow it), The Big Lebowski deserves most, if not all, the underground hype it has gotten over the last decade or so.
A bizarre case of mistaken identity sends our slacker hero The Dude on a mission to replace his soiled rug. He and his bowling buddies Walter and Donny subsequently get mixed up in a high stakes kidnapping-for-ransom plot with another, wealthier and more successful Lebowski in early 1990's Los Angeles.
It's hard for me to not give this movie a higher score. There are so many hilarious and quotable moments that you can watch it over and over and never get bored. Performances by Bridges and Goodman are classic, and the characters themselves take on a life of their own by the end of the film. However, there are too many times where the story either lags too much or surges forward without giving you time to comprehend the new information. There are a few too many plot twists for me to take it seriosly as a crime/detective story.
It's a decent merger of black comedy and neo-film noir, but many times I found myself laughing through important plot information. I finally got the story down cold on the third time through. On some level this is a compliment, and a testament to how funny it is, but it's an odd experience to laugh your way through a movie, then be unable to describe what it was about five minutes later.
Final Score: 8/10
3rd time was the charmer...
2009-10-13 - I had to watch this three times before I fell absolutely in love with it. Helped that my friends all love it, but I admit, it took me a while to absorb the hilarity. One of my faves now!
How did I miss out on movies like this for so long?!
2009-08-26 - I just now recently watched this film, and I can't believe I waited this long to finally see it. This is a really good film..very funny..and in my opinion, the best Coen Brothers film..(though there's still a couple I haven't seen yet!) The basic plot that jump starts the film is kinda silly, but its so silly its great..then the story just evolves from there..from things getting bad to worse for "The Dude" and his friends! The performance of Jeff Bridges as this "dude" is classic. And don't forget John Goodman as the dude's bowling friend and sidekick, Walter. As with most Coen brother's work..the dialogue is hilarious and fantastic..especially the interacting of Bridges' and Goodman's characters. I just can't believe that I've missed out on this film for this long! Definitely recommended to anyone that enjoys funny dialogue and unforgettable characters!!
It's Shabbas, Dude
2009-07-25 - I loved The Big Lebowski. The Dude isn't quite an anti-hero, or a reluctant hero, or really a hero at all, and I really liked the way he just got drawn into such a weird plot simply because of his name. What really made the movie interesting, though, was how well it played with all the elements of the private detective genre without really having a private detective. Think of Jack Nicholson in Chinatown, but make him a stoner and a bowler who likes white Russians, and you'll get The Big Lebowski.
Also, it's the minor characters who make this movie really shine. Walter is brilliantly written and acted, and the bit characters like Donny and the actual Big Lebowski never stop being funny. I especially liked the Big Lebowski's executive assistant, who reminded me of Mr. Smithers from The Simpsons. It's no wonder this thing has become a cult classic.
