Sometimes, there's a movie, well, it’s the movie for its
time and place. It fits right in there. And that's the Big Lebowski, from the
Cohen Brothers. And even if he's a off-kilter man - and the Big Lebowksi was
most certainly that. Quite possibly the most off-kilter of the Cohen Brothers
thus far, which would place it high in the runnin' for most off-kilter
worldwide. But sometimes there's a movie…sometimes, there's a movie. Aw. I lost
my train of thought here. But... aw, hell. I've done introduced it enough.
Yup, here’s another anniversary throwback. This summer saw
the 20th anniversary of the movie that’s usually what most think of when
thinking the Cohen Brothers, deliverers of quotable and deliciously dark
classics like Fargo or No Country For All Men. Starring the perfectly chosen
duo of Jeff Bridges and John Goodman, The Big Lebowski didn’t instantly make
cult classic when it hit in 1998, but between many rescreenings offering free
White Russians and Youtube memes, it certainly rectified that in the intervening
two decades.
It’s not hard to see why people didn’t immediately take to
it. The plot, such as it is, is about two slightly weird middle-aged men who
don’t seem to have much in common besides being of Polish descent, and, more
importantly, are still stuck in the late sixties or so. And then they get
involved in a bizarre kidnap case involving a third man of Polish descent, with
jumpsuit-clad nihilists, pretentious artists, and fascist cops in between, with
not much being accomplished in the end beside Jeff Bridge’s car being
annihilated. Oh, and there’s a lot of bowling in between.
You could say that maybe the late nineties wasn’t the best
time for it—after all, it was a much more optimistic time, with the turn of the
millennium just around the corner and everyone awaiting a new century and
better times. The general public might not have been in the right mindset for a
purposely pointless comedy about an ageing hippie and a raging gun nut who may
or may not have been in ‘Nam, but then again, it wasn’t like the nineties also
didn’t have it’s share of nihilism and pointless comedy about a pair of
schmucks. Just ask Beavis and Butt-Head.
But things definitely haven’t become more optimistic, so in some ways, the futile struggles of the Dude
and his unhinged buddy have become more relatable to those that try and eke out
post-recession existences. It’s no longer just broke hippies in LA that might
go out of their way just to get a new rug, and it becomes easier to emphasize with
Dude when he gets berated by someone richer who already had things set up for
him. And, even if you’re not a
person like that, most of us know one. There’s always the easygoing fella
content with his lot in life and might possibly be a substance user in many a
social circle—and that’s enough for many to latch onto.
And to cap it all off, damn near every scene is quotable and
always has something new on rewatch to catch onto. There’s enough funny lines
and performances that you can’t take it all in on just one viewing—such as that
one phone call that implies drolly that Walter Sobczak has pulled a gun on a
fellow bowler more than once. Or the way that the Dude seems to be written as a
regular, real-life person trying to talk to mile-a-minute flawlessly scripted
movie characters, just to highlight how hilariously out of his depth he is.
And, dammit, I think we all want to see just how Peter Stromare fixed the
cable.
If throughout this recap you don’t really have a clue what I’m
talking about or who these people that…go see the film now. In 20 years it’s
aged just fine and even if you don’t love it, there’ll at least be something to
talk about. Hell, see it on a re-release, as I recently did, and you might just
get to enjoy a free White Russian and the company of dozens shouting in unison ‘Shut
the fuck up, Donny!’. You’ll see why.
Ah, look at me. I’m rambling again. Well, I hope you folks
enjoy yourselves, be you rewatching this one, or checking it out for the first
time. Catch ya further down the trail.
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