#31 - The Big Lebowski (1998)

You know those films that have incredible potentials but fall behind and end up being rather mediocre? I think the Big Lebowski is one of them. It does so many things right that it could have been a comedic masterpiece had it handled them correctly. I did like it but I was annoyed by how much better it could have been.

The film is about Jeff Lebowski (Jeff Bridges), a pothead slacker that insists on being referred to as "The Dude", and is mistaken for the millionaire Jeff Lebowski (yup, same name), who after a series of shenanigans asks the Dude and his bowling buddies to help him rescue his kidnapped wife. It's a deceivingly simple plot, but trust me, it gets very convoluted and incoherent, to the point that you don't understand what is going on at times. I could give the film credit for trying to be solid and clever at times but it eventually becomes a helpless clusterfuck.

I generally dislike stoners or slackers in general, but the Dude takes every stereotype to the extreme so I can't help but enjoy the character a lot. He literally walks into a supermarket with a poncho and his underwear at one point, if I remember correctly. And his friends, the Vietnam veteran Walter, played by John Goodman, and the clueless Donny, played by Steve Buscemi, are just as likable, and the film really knows how to exploit the dynamic between the three for comedic purposes. Julianne Moore's Maude Lebowski is not as funny but still very entertaining to watch, and John Turturro's gay Latino "Jesus" steals every scene he's in. Even when his screen time is so reduced.

  

"Nobody fucks with the Jesus, man!" "Eight year olds do."

To be honest, though, this film is not that funny. Of course, it has its moments, mostly by exploiting the Dude's laziness, Walter's short temper and Donny's naïveness, but the rest of the jokes didn't quite keep me interested during the rest of the film. There's also a silly dream/dance sequence that comes out of nowhere and it's supposed to be funny, but it just breaks the pacing. I really wanted to see more of the bowling scenes, where there's little action other than the trio having some very funny conversations (the writing here is superb), but instead the focus is on the pointless rescue scenes.

  

I know they rarely do anything other than bowling or talking here, but these were the best bits.

It has its moments, particularly due to the memorable characters, and a surprisingly clever twist ending, but other than that I don't think I can recommend this film to a lot of people. If you insist on watching it for the cult classic that it is, I highly advise you to watch it with friends or something. It's not a bad film by any means: in fact, it's pretty entertaining, but it could have been much better in my opinion.