The Big Lebowski

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Template:Infobox Film The Big Lebowski is a 1998 comedy film written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. The movie chronicles a few days in the life of an unemployed California bowler after he is mistaken for a man with the same name. The film became a cult favorite beloved for its heroic lead character, surreal dream sequences and mellow rock 'n' roll soundtrack.

Set in early-1990s Southern California, the film stars Jeff Bridges as Jeffrey "The Dude" Lebowski, John Goodman as Walter Sobchak, Julianne Moore as Maude Lebowski, David Huddleston as Jeffrey "The Big" Lebowski, Philip Seymour Hoffman as Brandt, and Sam Elliott as "The Stranger".

Coen brothers regulars John Turturro, Jon Polito, Steve Buscemi, Peter Stormare, and Warren Keith are also featured.

While not directly based on Raymond Chandler's novel The Big Sleep, in an interview on the film, Joel Coen said that "[w]e wanted to do a Chandler kind of story - how it moves episodically, and deals with the characters trying to unravel a mystery. As well as having a hopelessly complex plot that's ultimately unimportant."<ref>An Interview with The Coen Brothers, Joel and Ethan about "The Big Lebowski"</ref>. The world of Raymond Chandler has been modernized considerably, in the style of Robert Altman's 1973 film The Long Goodbye <ref> The Coens just keep bowling along from WeeklyWire.com</ref> and Rian Johnson's 2005 film Brick.

1 Story
2 Characters
- 2.1 Minor Characters
3 Soundtrack
4 Trivia
5 Big Lebowski in pop culture
6 External links
7 References and footnotes

[edit]

Story

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Two thugs invade the Venice, California, home of Jeffrey Lebowski (Bridges), known as "The Dude", and trash it in an attempt to collect on a debt supposedly incurred by Lebowski's wife. The Dude convinces the thugs he's not the Jeffrey Lebowski they seek by pointing out his modest bachelor apartment. Despite the error, one of the thugs micturates upon The Dude's living room rug. At the insistence of his bowling buddy, a Vietnam War veteran named Walter (Goodman), The Dude unsuccessfully seeks compensation from the other Jeffrey Lebowski, a wheelchair-bound millionaire and, under false pretenses, obtains a replacement rug from the latter's mansion.

The elder Lebowski, known to The Dude and his friends as "The Big Lebowski", calls upon The Dude days later with an odd request: He says his trophy wife, "Bunny" (Tara Reid) has been kidnapped, and he wants The Dude to act as a paid courier for the ransom. Believing the task to be easy money, The Dude invites Walter along on the drop. The survivalist ex-military man botches the drop, tossing a leather suitcase full of his dirty whites instead of the metallic briefcase The Dude was asked to deliver.

Adding to his woes, The Dude's home is invaded again, his new rug is stolen literally out from under him and he is knocked unconscious, leading to a surreal dream sequence involving the rug as a magic carpet.

After he is forced into a limousine and confronted by The Big Lebowski about the botched ransom delivery, The Dude echoes George H. W. Bush's famous comment before the Gulf War: "This aggression will not stand", which he heard on a television in the film's first scene.

[edit]

Characters

The Dude (Jeff Bridges), whose real name is Jeffrey Lebowski, is a single, unemployed Venice, California, slacker who enjoys cannabis and spends his days "bowling, driving around, [and having] the occasional acid flashback." He leaves the toilet seat up, freely uses profanity and is not above post-dating a check for a carton of half and half for his beloved White Russians. The Dude is a pacifist who gets caught up in a scheme of kidnapping and embezzlement after seeking reparations for his rug — one that "really tied the room together" — after it was micturated upon.
Walter Sobchak (John Goodman) is a Vietnam War veteran who lives in the past. Born a Polish Catholic, he converted to Judaism when he married his wife Cynthia and is accused of having a "sick Cynthia [fetish]" by The Dude ever since the two were divorced. Walter often alludes situations to his experiences in Vietnam and is a paranoid, mentally unstable man. The way he deals with situations, aggressively and stubbornly, provide the main impetus for much of the story, often ending disastrously for himself and The Dude. Walter runs his own security firm, Sobchak Security, and places bowling second to only his reverence to his religion, as evidenced by the memorable line "I'm as Jewish as fucking Tevye". He is based loosely on real life filmmaker John Milius.
Donny (Steve Buscemi), born Theodore Donald Kerabatsos, is a member of Walter and The Dude's bowling team. He constantly walks into the middle of conversations between The Dude and Walter, invoking responses such as "you're out of your element" and "shut the fuck up" from Walter when he tries to catch up. Even when he is in a situation from the start, however, he still seems to have trouble figuring out what is going on.

Image:The.Big.Lebowski.1998.Screenshot.1.jpg

Jeffrey Lebowski (David Huddleston), "The Big Lebowski" to which the movie's title refers, is a wheelchair-bound multi-millionare. He is a Korean War veteran who is married to Bunny and is the father of Maude by another woman. He is a very vain man who prides himself on the fact that he has "accomplished more than most men, and without the use of [his] legs."
Bunny (Tara Reid), born Fawn Knutson, is the Big Lebowski's young, playboy "trophy wife." She ran away from her family in Moorhead, Minnesota and soon found herself making pornographic videos under the name Bunny LaJoya. She is a careless person who is an annoyance to her husband because "she owes money all over town, including to known pornographers."
Brandt (Philip Seymour Hoffman), assistant to Mr. Lebowski, is a man who tries to please everyone. Brandt, who is one of the few people that calls The Dude his title besides Walter and Donny, has a habit of echoing his boss as well as forcing out a nervous laugh during awkward moments.
Maude Lebowski (Julianne Moore) is Mr. Lebowski's daughter. She is a feminist as well as an avant-garde artist whose work "has been commended as extremely vaginal." She is currently friends with Knox Harrington (David Thewlis), the video artist and is the person who introduced Uli Kunkel to Bunny.

[edit]

Minor Characters

Jackie Treehorn (Ben Gazzara) is a pornographic film producer who lives in Malibu, California. His credits include "Logjammin'" starring Bunny and "Karl Hungus." He employs the two thugs who ambushed The Dude in his home as the movie began, prodding the story into motion when "Woo" micturates on The Dude's rug.
The German Nihilists were a group of ethnic Germans who claimed to be nihilists, although they don't seem to completely grasp the tenets of nihilism. The group, composed of leader Uli Kunkel, known in the "beaver picture" as Karl Hungus, (Peter Stormare), "Franz" (Torsten Voges), "Dieter" (Flea of RHCP) and Aimee Mann, was a Kraftwerkian techno-pop band called "Autobahn" in the mid-'70s. The group is the supposed kidnappers of Bunny.

Image:The.Big.Lebowski.1998.Screenshot.2.jpg

Smokey (Jimmie Dale Gilmore) is on a bowling team that The Dude and Walter play in order to qualify for the semifinals. When Walter claims that Smokey goes over the line, constituting a foul, Smokey opposes him and goes to mark the frame an eight. At this point, Walter takes a firearm out and threatens Smokey with the famous line "mark that frame an eight and you're entering a world of pain." Smokey is a "fragile" person who was a conscientious objector during the Vietnam War and remains a pacifist to this day.
The Stranger (Sam Elliott) is the narrator who sees this story unfold from an outside perspective. He does not see The Dude as a low-life and even goes so far to see him as an ironic tragic figure. The Stranger enjoys a good sarsaparilla, dresses as a cowboy and is always accompanied with "Tumbling Tumbleweeds" in the background.
Jesus Quintana (John Turturro) is one of The Dude and Walter's opponents in the bowling league semifinals match. This trash-talking West Hollywood resident is a convicted pederast according to Walter.
Liam O'Brien (James G. Hoosier) is Jesus' potbellied bowling partner.
Larry Sellers (Jesse Flanagan) is the son of Arthur Digby Sellers (Harry Bugin), a former television writer who wrote the bulk of the series "Branded." Larry's poorly-completed homework assignment was wedged in the seat of The Dude's car leading The Dude and Walter to believe Larry was the thief.
Marty (Jack Kehler) is The Dude's landlord. Marty is a part of a dance quintet and he really enjoys it when The Dude can come and give him notes on his performance afterwards.

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Soundtrack

"The Man In Me" — written and performed by Bob Dylan
"My Mood Swings" — written by Elvis Costello/Cait O'Riordan-performed by Elvis Costello
"Walking Song" — written and performed by Meredith Monk
"Ataypura" — written by Moises Vivanco, performed by Yma Sumac
"Branded Theme Song" — written by Alan Alch and Dominic Frontiere
"Requiem in D Minor" — written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, performed by The Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir
"Hotel California" — written by Don Henley, Glenn Frey and Don Felder, performed by The Gipsy Kings
"Run Through The Jungle" — written by John Fogerty and performed by Creedence Clearwater Revival
"Behave Yourself" — written by Booker T. Jones, Steve Cropper, Al Jackson, Jr. and Lewie Steinberg, performed by Booker T. & MG s
"Dead Flowers" — written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, performed by Townes Van Zandt
"Her Eyes Are A Blue Million Miles" — written by Don Vliet, performed by Captain Beefheart
"I Got It Bad & That Ain't Good" — written by Duke Ellington and Paul Francis Webster, performed by Nina Simone
"I Hate You" — written by Gary Burger, David Havlicek, Roger Johnston, Thomas E. Shaw and Larry Spangler, performed by The Monks
Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In) — written by Mickey Newbury, performed by Kenny Rogers & The First Edition
"Lookin' Out My Back Door" — written by John Fogerty and performed by Creedence Clearwater Revival

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Trivia

Variants of the word "fuck" are uttered 281 times, putting "The Big Lebowski" at No. 12 on the list of films ordered by uses of the word "fuck".
The word "man" is said 174 times during the film.
"Dude" is said 139 times, including variations.
The rug that "tied the room together" now hangs on the wall of La'Bowski's Restaurant in Lubbock, Texas.
On both the DVD and VHS cover of the movie, the synopsis incorrectly quotes the Dude as saying the "carpet" really made the room "hang together."
Jeff Bridges' father, Lloyd Bridges, died March 10, 1998, only four days after this film was first released.
The Dude is never seen actually bowling, only stretching before a game. Conversely, Donny bowls a strike each time he is seen rolling, with the exception of the night he has a heart attack.
The clothes that The Dude wears are Jeff Bridges' own.
When Treehorn's thugs return to The Dude's home, each is wearing clothes the other was wearing in their first appearance.
Walter repeats "That's what happens when you fuck a stranger in the ass" many times while smashing a Corvette. In the edited-for-television version it is dubbed "That's what happens when you find a stranger in the Alps" and "when you fix a stranger scrambled eggs".
The Jesus character is absent from some televised versions of the film.
In the film, Jesus Quintana is a convicted sex offender, according to Walter. A man with the same name was an actual sex offender, convicted only a few years before the film's release. [1]
Adult-film star Asia Carrera appears in "Logjammin", the Bunny LaJoya-Karl Hungus beaver picture.
Steve Buscemi's character is constantly being told to "shut the fuck up!" by Walter, in reference to Fargo, the previous Coen Bros. film, in which Buscemi's character would never shut up.
Peter Stormare's character is seen ordering pancakes at a diner, in another reference to Fargo, in which his character anxiously wants to go to a pancake house, but never gets to.
Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo was given the nickname "The Dude" by his bandmates.
Donny's body is cremated, keeping with the tradition that with each successive Coen Bros. film in which the Steve Buscemi character dies, his remains get smaller. (See Miller's Crossing and Fargo.)
Readers of Total Film magazine voted The Big Lebowski the 20th greatest comedy film of all time. [2]

[edit]

Big Lebowski in pop culture

The first annual Lebowski Fest was held Oct. 12, 2002. The event has its roots in Louisville, Kentucky, but has become so popular that "Lebowski Fest West" debuted the following year.
In episode 37, "O-Ed Eleven", of Ed, Edd and Eddy, Double D uses Walter Sobchak as an alias.
Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends spoofed the series twice. In the pilot movie, "House of Bloo's", Bloo recites a variation of The Dude's speech when he meets the vandals, saying "Right, right, or Blooey, Bloo the Blue Dude, El Blooderino, or hey, how about just plain Bloo?" after Mac's older brother calls him a "bloofus." Later, an episode called "The Big Leblooski" was set in a bowling alley, and featured uncanny charactures of Walter, Donny and The Dude as they were depicted waiting in line for bowling shoes.
In 2005 the cartoon website Homestar Runner dressed the character Pom Pom up as Walter Sobchak. Several characters are also heard spouting lines from the film when a "Easter egg" is clicked on Pom Pom after the cartoon is shown.
The Alan Moore comic The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Volume 2, features an extensive almanac on the world of the comic. In the chapter detailing North America, a naiad known as "Lebowsky" is heard to have settled in the Los Angeles area, but is "unknown if he continued his habits of smoking and playing nine pins or if he in fact sired any descendants of note."
In an episode of Lizzie McGuire, Gordo is seen reading "The Dude Abides, The Big Lebowski's Guide to Bowling."
In the 1998 Powerpuff Girls episode, "Something's a Ms.", the mayor, sitting in a great room before a fireplace and lamenting the kidnapping of his faithful assistant Sara Bellum, gives the girls the same speech that the Big Lebowski gives the Dude when it's thought that Bunny has been kidnapped.
The television series Veronica Mars makes repeated references to the movie; one episode features characters watching the movie.
On the menus of the McMenamins chain of brewpubs in the Pacific Northwest, the name of the white russian drink has been replaced with 'The Dude'.
In the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Episode "The Little Belowski", the titular character and the title itself parody The Big Lebowski.
In 2005, Marvel released a comic series following the X-man 'Gambit'. The first story arc was called 'House of Cards'. Walter and Donny can be seen in issue 3 of 'House of Cards', where Gambit steals Walter's bowling ball 'Lucille'.
An episode of Sabrina the Teenage Witch Miles tutors Roxy in bowling. Miles wears a suit and wrist gaurd similar to the outfit Jesus Quintana wears when he first appears in the bowling alley.