Genre Grandeur – The Big Lebowski (1998) – Encore Review – MovieRob

For this month’s next review for Genre Grandeur – Comedies that feature characters who are either Stoners or Drunk here’s a review of The Big Lebowski (1998) by me.

Thanks again to Jason Soto of The Rabbit Hole Podcasts for choosing this month’s genre.

Next month’s genre has been chosen by Jason Stershic of Agent Palmer and we will be reviewing our favorite College Themed Films.

Please get me your submissions by the 25th of Feb by sending them to collegejason@movierob.net

Try to think out of the box! Great choice Jason!

Let’s see what I thought of this movie:

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“Saturday, Donny, is Shabbos, the Jewish day of rest. That means that I don’t work, I don’t drive a car, I don’t fucking ride in a car, I don’t handle money, I don’t turn on the oven, and I sure as shit *don’t fucking roll*! ” – Walter Sobchak

Number of Times Seen – at least 5 times (Theater in ’98, video, DVD, 18 May 2015 and 30 Jan 2022)

Link to original review – Here

Brief Synopsis – A stoner who lives for his bowling league is mistaken for a wealthy member of the community and gets involved in a kidnapping and ransom situation.

My Take on it – Jeff Bridges is perfectly cast as The Dude.

This film works so well due to his performance here and this is among his very best during his storied career.

The story plays out really well and is paced in a very engaging way.

The Coen Brothers know how to create great characters and this film is filled to the brim with them.

Each is developed in their own eccentric way and that adds so many more layers to the story itself.

The supporting cast is also superb with John Goodman, Julianne Moore, Steve Buscemi, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Tara Reid, Peter Stormare and John Turturro.

The fact that The Dude is either fully stoned or half stoned throughout the whole movie keeps him mellow despite everything that happens here and things remain so funny throughout due to his reactions to all that transpires around him.

The comedy of errors here is so believable due to the way that the script feels so genuine.

The dialogue between the characters seems very fresh and true which also adds so much to things here.

Highly Recommended!

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – Before filming a scene, Jeff Bridges would frequently ask the Coen brothers “Did the Dude burn one on the way over?” If they said he had, he would rub his knuckles in his eyes before doing a take to make his eyes appear bloodshot. (From IMDB)

Rating – Oscar Worthy (9/10) (no change from original review)