El gran Lebowski: Identidad peligrosa

My favourite Coen brothers movie changes over the years as I watch and rewatch their amazingly original and consistently surprising oeuvre. When I first saw 'The Big Lebowski' on its original release I enjoyed it but thought it was a bit of a slight "fun" movie with less depth than many of their previous works. Now, a few years and several viewing later, I have come to realise just how accomplished a movie it is, and it has become one of my all time favourite movies. Other film makers have attempted to weave together various genres, styles and images in a similarly eclectic, postmodern fashion, but few do it as seamlessly and with such wit as Ethan and Joel Coen. 'The Big Lewboski' is an extremely smart film, but it doesn't shout "look at me! Aren't I clever?". It sucks you in from the get go, and bottom line it is FUNNY, and as it is a comedy that's what counts the most! Everything about the movie is perfect, the script, the direction, set design, costumes, and the wonderful soundtrack (one of the most brilliant ever assembled, it includes lesser known Dylan and Elvis Costello numbers, Creedence classics, and songs from cult favourites like Yma Sumac, Captain Beefheart, Moondog, Esquivel and garage gods The Monks). Plus of course the actors, who are well cast and virtually flawless. Jeff Bridges ('Fat City', 'Starman') IS The Dude, and it's impossible to think of anyone else acting the role. Coen regulars John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, John Turturro, Peter Stomare, and Jon Polito are all on board, as well as Julianne Moore ('Boogie Nights'), David Huddleston ('Capricorn One'), Philip Seymour Hoffman ('Magnolia') and Sam Elliot ('Mask'), even surprise cameos from Ben Gazzara ('The Killing Of A Chinese Bookie') and singer Jimmie Ray Gilmore. I can't fault 'The Big Lebowski', it is one of the most original and entertaining comedies ever made and a genuine modern classic. It's movies like this that keep me watching despite the endless mountain of mindless garbage that Hollywood continually spews out. If only every movie in the box office Top Ten was as inspired and amusing as this one!

How can anyone not dig The Dude? In a world where energetic go-getters are idolised and looked up to, it's nice to know that there are fat, indolent, scruffy, pot smoking, beer drinking bums out there taking it easy. Or they would be if people would leave their rugs alone…

The Big Lebowski is a film where the plot is entirely inconsequential; it doesn't matter. It's just a mere device to set The Dude on his way. The joy is in watching him interact with all the weirdos in Los Angeles and in listening to the dialogue – the script is the most quotable since Withnail and I. Therefore it's the perfect film to just sit back and absorb.

Picking a favourite scene in a film that is jam packed with great moments and wonderful lines of dialogue is a near impossibility, but you'd be hard pressed to beat the scene with the Malibu police chief. "I don't like your jerk-off name. I don't like your jerk-off face. I don't like your jerk-off behaviour. And I don't like you…jerk-off." And then to cap it off he throws his mug at The Dude's head. Brilliant! And making it even funnier is the scene that immediately follows it where the taxi driver throws The Dude out of his cab.

But another favourite is Jesus. He only has two scenes but both are hilarious. (I hope the Coens make 'The Passion of the Jesus.') And I love the flashback where you see him knocking on doors to tell his neighbours that he's a pederast. Especially good is the way that a large, bearded man with a dirty shirt answers the door (I always crack up at the breath Jesus takes when he sees the man – I also noticed, for the first time, that Jesus in that flashback is visibly showing in his tight jeans; he's not a small guy).

But then there's the scene where The Dude first meets Maude Lebowski (excellently played by Julianne Moore). "I'm sorry if your stepmother is a nympho, but…" And I also like the little dig at the porno film they're watching: "The plot is ludicrous." But the comment isn't really aimed at the porno film; the film is talking about itself. It knows the plot is nonsensical but it also knows that it doesn't matter – it's best to just let it wash over you.

Mentioning porno has reminded me of Jackie Treehorn. Is there a better visual gag in modern cinema than The Dude scratching a notepad for a message or telephone number only to find a cartoon of a man with a gigantic erection? Well, maybe there is, because even earlier in the film there's the moment where The Dude spends a long time making a homemade device to keep intruders out only for him to forget the fact that his door opens outwards instead of inwards – he nails a bit of wood to the floor, props a chair up to the door handle to keep people out and the very second he walks away, the door opens and the chair comes tumbling down. Pure genius!

And Jackie Treehorn's brainless goons are brilliant too. "You're not dealing with morons here." Oh yes we are. But the film's all the better for it.

But I'm not sure what my favourite line in the film would be – again it's almost impossible to pick just one. But "I still jerk-off manually" would have to be up there, as would virtually every line Walter spews ("The Chinaman is not the issue…"). However, if I was forced (at gunpoint) to choose, I'd have to go with a piece of Dude wisdom: "Fortunately, I'm adhering to a pretty strict, uh, drug regiment to keep my mind, you know, uh, limber." And The Dude's reaction when Maude tells him that she's trying to conceive is magnificent.

Yet another brilliant scene is the Larry scene. Walter and The Dude are trying to get information out of some kid but the kid just stares impassively at them, so Walter destroys his car – or what he thinks is his car. Now at this moment I could quote the real dialogue, but the TV version dialogue is perhaps even better. "Do you see what happens, Larry? Do you see what happens when you find a stranger in the Alps?" It's even better than: "Fun you, melon farmer!"

Then there are the nihilists. "We believe in nothing, Lebowski. Nothing. And tomorrow we come back and we cut off your johnson." But try as they might to intimidate, the only scary thing about the nihilists is the techno music they listen to. Well, that and their obsession with the male member.

But I could quote lines from The Big Lewbowski all day. I just dig the film so much because it puts a goofy grin on my face; its stupidity is remarkably intelligent. Plus, in the end, it's actually quite heartfelt – if the film's about anything, it's about friendship…well, that and smoking pot, drinking beer, bowling and keeping hold of your johnson. Yeah, the world's a better place with The Dude in it.

Those Coen brothers have an ear for language. You feel it in the sing-songy banalities of Fargo, and in the noiresque machine-gun dialogue of Miller's Crossing, but neither of these can prepare you for the feast for the ears that is The Big Lebowski.

Channeling the opaque mysteries of Raymond Chandler, the Coens throw LA resident bum and Bowling aficionado Jeff Lebowski ("The Dude" to his friends) into a strange triple-crossing case of kidnapping, ransoms, nihilists and urinated-upon rugs. It is the equivalent of throwing unrelenting forces at an immovable object, the Dude's bemused stoicism at constant odds with the world around him. He'd much rather be bowling with crazed Vietnam Vet Walter (John Goodman) and pure silent soul Donnie (Steve Buscemi).

As with so much of the Coens' output, style is more than half the point: not just visual, though ace DP Roger Deakins paints an alluring canvas, but tonal and auditory. This is an insanely funny head-trip of a movie, with wonderfully idiosyncratic characters, down to the smallest part. Who better than the Coens to reinvent the comedy of errors?

This is without a doubt one of their very best, a personal favorite, an unmissable film and the kind of experience that will plant an indelible smile on your face. Do yourself and see this now, if you haven't already.

The Big Lebowski is the type of movie that is so funny, and so clever, you want nothing more but to meet the Coen brothers, congratulate them personally for their unique talent, and get inside their heads and find out what makes these two geniuses "tick". The main characters are Jeff Bridges (who plays such broad roles like The Muse, The Contender, and Sea Biscuit), John Goodman (who should have won an oscar for best supporting actor for his character, Walter Sobchak)Juliane Moore (Maude Lebowski)and Steve Buscemi (who is unique in every Coen Brother movie).

The first time I saw this movie, I will admit that I enjoyed it, but did not fully appreciate its level of humor and raw talent. I thought the middle section was a bit too depressing and long. But trust me, this is a movie that gets more funny every time you see it, even if it's your thousandth time seeing it. Its level of comedy, action, brutality, and vulgarity become that much more evident and important.

The characters are brilliantly written by the coen brothers, and, likewise, are brilliantly portrayed by the actors. The Big Lebowski is like no other film. It will make you laugh and it will make you cry. There is no other film such as TBL that is sharp and witty all the way through. One of the Joel and Ethan Coen's best, and one of the movie industry's best comedic film of all time. You want to go see this flick.

It's a travesty that most critics only read The Big Lebowski at its most superficial level and called it a modern take on a Raymond Chandler potboiler. I simply can't begin to perceive how one could sit down in front of this cinematic pop-poetry, as it plates gold on the silver screen, and not feel so incredibly alive. The dream sequence Busbee Berkley musical numbers are unique and awe-inspiring; the humor is rich, subtle, and clever in the way it satirizes politically correct arrogance; the free-flowing story avoids (even pokes fun at) nonessentials like plot points and pay-offs. But what really makes this film such a masterpiece, such a panacea, is the incredible humanism, the care that the Coen brothers put in developing The Dude (Jeff Bridges), Walter (John Goodman), Donnie (Steve Buscemi-tremendously endearing), and Brandt (magnificently played by Phillip Seymour Hoffman). Looking at the films use of Sam Elliott to play The Stranger, who constantly rambles about the many wonders of The Dude (among other things), it is clear that the film is an ode to a Dudist way of life. And in a time where so many film promise that they have the answer to the worlds problems and end up as slick, stylistic show-off films, what more could one ask for than a good-hearted film like this? Not to mention the performance by Jeff Bridges, which ranks among the best performances of the nineties; he has a relaxed slouch, a goofy smile, an enthusiastic dance, and his buttons can only be pushed by Walter, who John Goodman plays with charm and fury. The Coen brothers have always been considered 'cold' filmmakers, but there is nothing here but warmth and humanity (as is the case with the Coens' Fargo). What we have here is one of the greatest achievements in modern cinema and if you can't see that, grab a White Russian, hit the bowling ally, and find your inner-Dude as soon as possible.