The Big Lebowski

This has been far out the funniest movie I've seen in a long time. The Dude, how awesome is that. Jeff Bridges, I didn't know he could do this, much respect. I have to say I haven't seen a lot of films with him in it nor payed any real attention to his career. I thought he was just this old guy actor, playing a cop or loving husband, or some other of those filler-up kind of roles, with no real challenge to them. So seeing him as the dude really surprised me.
This movie is so much fun. The characters totally rock. John Goodman as Walter was flat out hilarious. The way he keeps blaming everything on the Vietnam war and his sudden bursts of anger. Crazy. And he made me feel really bad for Donny, always telling the poor guy to shut up. The dialogues are crazy good, so is the very chilled out music. And I love these stories where a regular guy gets in the middle of all these people's problems he never was part of. Reminded me a lot of The Hudsucker Proxy, which is also a very nice film from the Coen brothers.

What is it about?

The story is about Jeffrey Lebowski a.k.a. the Dude. One night the poor guy is mistaken for another Lebowski, he gets beaten up and an Asian guy pees on his rug. Feeling hurt by this act he goes on a search to find the other Lebowksi and get a new rug from him. When the guy doesn't want to give him one, our Dude decides to just take a new rug from the other Lebowski's mansion. A couple of days later the Dude gets a call from mr. Brandt, the other Lebowski's helper. The Dude is then asked to help Lebowski get his wife back who is kidnapped by probably the same guys who beat up the Dude and peed on his rug. Therefore it seems best for the Dude to make the exchange of one million dollar, 'cause those guys think the Dude is the other Lebowski. Together with his friend Walter he goes to the meet up for the exchange, but from there on things go awfully wrong. In one of his outbursts Walter decides they should keep the money and instead of giving the bad guys the briefcase with the million dollar he gives them a bag full of underwear. This makes for a lot of misunderstandings and mistaken identities for the Dude who now has to find a way to get himself out of this complicated mess.

Final Verdict: *****

A lot of witty dialogue and awesomely funny and very memorable characters makes this film a real joy to watch. There are moments I just laughed my ass off. I really like the work of the Coen brothers, they always come up with fun, fresh stories, full of originality. Jeff Bridges gave a stunning performance and really made the whole dude kind of attitude his own, always keeping his voice very smooth and cool. I had no idea he was capable to do this. The conversations at the bowling alley are priceless, as are all the scenes with John Goodman's character. This really is one of the coolest films I've ever seen. And the word dude has always been one of my favourite words, it just sounds so relaxed, love it.