The Big Lebowski (1998)

Director:

Joel Coen

Writers (WGA):

Ethan Coen (written by) &
Joel Coen (written by)

Release Date:

6 March 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime

Tagline:

They figured he was a lazy time wasting slacker. They were right.

Plot:

"Dude" Lebowski, mistaken for a millionaire Lebowski, seeks restitution for his ruined rug and enlists his bowling buddies to help get it.

Plot Keywords:

Rug | Millionaire | Bowling | Jewish Convert | Slacker

Awards:

1 win & 7 nominations

Cast

Jeff Bridges	...	Jeffrey Lebowski - The Dude
John Goodman	...	Walter Sobchak
Julianne Moore	...	Maude Lebowski
Steve Buscemi	...	Theodore Donald 'Donny' Kerabatsos
David Huddleston	...	Jeffrey Lebowski - The Big Lebowski
Philip Seymour Hoffman	...	Brandt
Tara Reid	...	Bunny Lebowski
Philip Moon	...	Woo, Treehorn Thug
Mark Pellegrino	...	Blond Treehorn Thug
Peter Stormare	...	Nihilist #1, Uli Kunkel / 'Karl Hungus'
Flea	...	Nihilist #2, Kieffer
Torsten Voges	...	Nihilist #3, Franz
Jimmie Dale Gilmore	...	Smokey
Jack Kehler	...	Marty
John Turturro	...	Jesus Quintana

MPAA:

Rated R for pervasive strong language, drug content, sexuality and brief violence.

Runtime:

117 min

Country:

USA | UK

Language:

English | German | Hebrew | Spanish

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

South Korea:15 (DVD rating) | Philippines:R-18 | Spain:18 | Brazil:14 | Italy:T | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Belgium:KT | Canada:14A | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 | France:U | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIB | Ireland:18 | Netherlands:12 | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/12 | South Korea:18 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:18 | USA:R (certificate #35633) | Iceland:14 (original rating) | Iceland:12 (video rating) | Singapore:R(A) | Singapore:M18 (DVD rating)

Filming Locations:

Beverly Hills, California, USA

Company:

Polygram Filmed Entertainment

Trivia:

Norwegian posters and video cassettes carried the text "anbefales av norsk bowling forbund" (recommended by the Norwegian Bowling Association).

Goofs:

Continuity: When Walter jumps out of the car at the drop-off point, he loses control of the Uzi and it shoots out the Dude's left tail light. But when the Dude recovers the car from the police, the same tail light is perfectly normal.

Quotes:

[first lines]
The Stranger: [voiceover] Way out west there was this fella I wanna tell ya about. Goes by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least that was the handle his loving parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. See, this Lebowski, he called himself "The Dude". Now, "Dude" - there's a name no man would self-apply where I come from...

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Kingpin: Life of Crime (1999) (VG)

Soundtrack:

Standing on the Corner

Coen brothers unabashedly out of control! A plethora of fun!

The Coen brothers are up there with my very favorite filmmakers (Scorsese, Kubrick, Carpenter). I am very fond of their work. Throughout their irreverent career, they have explored different subjects and themes. Their best stories evolve from kidnapping schemes in films like "Raising Arizona " and "Fargo", one of my very favorites. I thought that film was fervently free. I was so ever wrong. It's as if the Coen Brothers have celebrated their complete breakthrough success (Academy Award winners), and now are willing to do whatever they please. "The Big Lebowski" is a film so meandering, so wonderfully novel, that I found myself missing the many other sporadic jokes as I was heaving from laughter. The film is basically about mistaken identity, eccentric characters, and a soiled rug. This film extols the bowler, the allies, even the pins. We experience an actual bowling ball POV, as the Dude (Jeff Bridges) hallucinates. This film has nihilists, feminists, millionares, paedophiles, drugged out hippies, underachieving students, incompetent criminals, pornographers and 'Nam veterans. This movie is open to anything , anything... Some people are turned off by absurd looniness, because it's so grandiosely different. Yet who couldn't chuckle, if not explode, when a bowler dressed in a tight purple suit licks a bowling ball's finger hole, and the camera pans down to reveal his name as Jesus! I will disclose no more, but urgently recommend you to traverse to your nearest video abode and rent this true escapists' feature. Abandon all solemn inhibitons, though! One can not keep a straight face whilst watching.