The Big Lebowski

The Coen brothers are back with a wonderfully anarchic crime comedy that also dips into other genres such as the American dance films of the thirties. The plot is, as usual, completely unpredictable and convoluted.

The protagonist, Jeff Lebowski, ends up in the unfortunate situation of being mistaken for the rich man The Big Lebowski, even though they have absolutely nothing in common apart from the name. Jeff, who calls himself The Dude, is an acid-head whose most purposeful efforts take place at the bowling alley with his friend Walter Sobchak, a barking-mad Vietnam veteran. When the big Lebowski's young wife disappears - apparently kidnapped - the big Lebowski hires The Dude to hand over the money in exchange for his wife. Nothing goes as planned, however, not least because of Walter's interference, but then things are not what they seem either. Jeff begins to get a sense of how things really fit together when he meets the big Lebowski's daughter, the intelligent artist Maude. What Jeff, on the other hand, fails to grasp until it is too late is that Maude is using him as a sperm donor!

One of the film's strengths is its gallery of characters, a tremendous array of eccentrics and oddballs. Rarely have I seen John Goodman as terrific as in the role of Walter, who balances on a knife-edge between being a good-natured teddy bear and stark raving mad. John Turturro also shines as the divinely gifted bowler Jesus.