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For those of you that have been wondering, I'll answer the question. I missed seeing The Big Lebowski when it was in theatres. It only stayed in Carver Point for a week, and the week coincided with my camping trip to Lake Carver with Earl and Lester Brigamore, the two best fishing guides east of the Chattahoochee. By the time I realized what I was missing, it was gone, and I never got caught up enough to see it. So I grabbed it this week from the video shelf. Yep. The Coen Brothers have done it again, folks. Jeff bridges plays Jeff Lebowski, known as the Dude. He is shaggy, sloppy, and generally a mess in every category. The narrator (Sam Elliot) describes him as "the laziest man in Los Angeles County," and he's not that far off. Dude's only cares in the world are bowling, drinking White Russians, and blowing through a dime bag of dope. His bowling team buddies are just as screwy as Dude is. Walter Sobchak (John Goodman) is a half-crazed Vietnam vet who speaks in Presidential soundbites from Desert Storm and packs a mean arsenal in his bowling bag. Donny (Steve Buscemi) is just a blank slate, never up on a conversation, but, nonetheless ready to offer an opinion, whether it's relevant or not. Dude gets himself in a jam when he is confused with another Jeffery Lebowski, the other being a self-made millionaire and philanthropist with a wife deep in debt to a porno king. Before some enforcers can figure out their mistake, one of them urinates on Dude's favorite rug. Dude tracks down the other Lebowski, wanting some remuneration for this treasured bit of decor, only to be rejected. But the Big Lebowski has other plans for Dude. The millionaire hires Dude to deliver the ransom when his wife Bunny is kidnapped. Walter convinces Dude to take him along for the drop, and, in pure Coen Brothers fashion, everything goes hopelessly awry from there. There are some funny performances here, all geared around one of the funniest scripts the Coens have put together since Raising Arizona. They also get a full cast of characters, and I do mean characters. Goodman and Buscemi are hysterical together, and Julianne Moore does a great job as the Big Lebowski's daughter, Maude, who opposes this ransom payoff. John Turturro plays a small but incredibly memorable part as a Latin bowling rival to Dude's buddies. His character is named Jesus (Not "hay-soos," mind you, but "Jesus..."), and he's a symphony in bad taste and despicable behavior, from his skintight purple nylon bowling attire to his trip around the neighborhood, introducing himself to all as a convicted child molester. But, the focus of this movie is Dude, and Jeff Bridges plays him for every minute he's worth. Dude is like a good jazz piece, wandering to whatever rhythm strikes his fancy, but always keeping in time to the beat. The movie follows that same philosophy, and the audience is almost treated to Dude's drug-addled confusion, until it becomes obvious that these characters are all completely serious in their craziness. And, then, it may dawn on you that you actually know somebody like Dude, or Walter, or Donny, or even (God forbid) Jesus, and it becomes even funnier. The Coens love to play with the quirks that people have in everyday life, and call this The Quirk Festival. We even get a Busby Berkeley fantasy when Dude is unconscious, and a sequence shot from the point-of-view from inside the fingerholes of a bowling ball! Blank as blunt, The Big Lebowski won't suit every taste. If you did not "get" Fargo or Raising Arizona, you'll be better off organizing your sock drawer. You've got to believe in the basic insanity of everyday people in order to get most of the Coen's sense of humor. If you take life way too seriously, you'll never survive this effort. But, if you fancy yourself a tumbling tumbleweed once in a while, lost in the dirt and going wherever the winds blow you, check out The Big Lebowski. It's a small-scale riot, and you'll laugh harder than you expected.
Get "reel" soon,
See past Alternative Medicine columns: A Christmas Story | To Kill A Mockingbird | I Wanna Hold Your Hand | Kingpin | Joe Versus the Volcano | The Commitments | Indian Summer | The Big Lebowski | Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man | The Texas Chainsaw Massacre | Empire Records | That Thing You Do! | The Ten Commandments | The Third Man | Waiting for Guffman
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