The Big Lebowski (1998)

 

Genre: Comedy/Crime          Time: 1h52mins              Directors: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen

Quick summary: Two goons mistake 'the Dude' Lebowski for a millionaire Lebowski and urinate on his rug. Trying to recompense his rug from the wealthy Lebowski, he gets entwined in an intricate kidnapping case.

This film is perfect at showing a procrastinator at its best as well as funnily enough, the main urgency within the plotline is overshone by bowling.

The main dude simply floats his way through the story, managing to dodge any extreme stress and chaos by a pure miracle but he still finds himself involved in these types of situations. Plot-wise, it is very messy and ambles about though its quirkiness really makes up for it. It's a weird ride but it's still enjoyable. 

To be honest, a lot of these characters are so memorable because of how weird they are with well-written lines added to them, it makes the performances of these guys so good. Especially Jeff Bridges. The role of The Dude was written for him, he plays it so laid back that it’s almost comforting and I couldn't imagine anyone else playing him.

The colourful 90s Los Angeles setting replaces the monochrome mood of any typical noir film, but the themes and influence remain clear. The combination of film-noir influence set against a modern life backdrop creates a hilarious combination that is entertaining and downright hilarious.

Honestly, a lot of the humour wasn't to my taste, but I could see how others would find it funny. I just found a lot of it forced or felt a bit cringy. As well as this, the script overall didn't really grab my attention.

I do think this movie should have been a bit shorter if I'm honest, some parts of it really dragged on. Especially the one long dream sequence, that should have been cut. Though I'm really glad that they just tied up all the loose subplots by the end of it.

7/10

“Smokey, this is not Vietnam, this is bowling. There are rules.”

"Sooner or later you are going to have to face the fact that you’re a moron."