Comprehensive information and links about Big Lebowski, The

Big Lebowski is a 1998 film written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen starring Jeff Bridges as Jeffrey "The Dude" Lebowski, John Goodman as Walter, 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 and Warren Keith are also featured. The movie is widely considered to be a cult classic for its originality and direction, its eccentric characters, and its convoluted plot that centers around The Dude's earnest quest to replace his soiled living room rug.

The film has been deconstructed as a kind of parable for Buddhism, with the Dude as the Buddha, struggling to avoid attachment to material entities, and Jeffrey Lebowski as a caricature of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, with a strong belief in work ethic and the earning of one's material well-being.span

The Dude, Jeff Lebowski (Bridges), has his home invaded by thugs looking to collect a debt incurred by the wife of Jeff Lebowski. Only after the thugs trash the Dude's house and urinate on his rug do they realize they're at the house of the wrong Jeff Lebowski.

At the insistence of his bowling buddy, Walter (Goodman), the Dude attempts to obtain a replacement rug from the other Jeff Lebowski, a wheelchair-bound millionaire. The Dude later becomes entangled in a kidnapping scheme involving Lebowski's trophy wife, "Bunny" (Tara Reid), and a gang of German nihilists.

The storyline, a bizarre twisting of the film noir genre, is interesting in and of itself, but also functions as a frame upon which the humorous situations and characterization can be hung, in particular the bizarre array of characters.

The plot is loosely based on Raymond Chandler's novel and the subsequent Humphrey Bogart film based on it, but has been modernized considerably, with marijuana, ten pin bowling, and the 1991 Gulf War serving as a backdrop to the mystery. (The Dude's "this will not stand, this aggression will not stand, man," echoes George H. W. Bush's famous comment before the Gulf War seen in the film's opening scene). Inspiration from Robert Altman's , the latter phrases are typically employed by individuals addressing The Dude who are uninterested in brevity as a concept. — Real name: Jeffrey Lebowski; he is an unemployed, Cannabis-smoking anti-hero, whose ambition is limited to bowling and drinking White Russian cocktails. Lebowski is an avid Creedence Clearwater Revival fan, and lives in a small apartment. The Dude attended college, though he spent most of his time using drugs, vandalizing the ROTC and bowling. He claims to have been a co-writer of the original Port Huron Statementand a member of the Seattle Seven (part of the Seattle Liberation Front). He was also briefly a roadie for Metallica on the fictitious Speed of Sound tour. He has an extreme dislike for The Eagles. The Dude is unmarried, leaves the toilet seat up, freely uses profanity and is not above post-dating a check for a carton of milk. (John Goodman) — A Vietnam War vet and convert through failed Marriage to Judaism (Polish Catholic by birth) whose mental instability provides much of the comedy of the film; he is paranoid and his constant interference in the events of the story are the impetus for much of the action. He runs his own security firm (Sobchak Security). Believes Donny to be out of his element much of the time. (Steve Buscemi) — Theodore Donald "Donny" Kerabatsos member of Walter and The Dude's bowling team, forever out of touch with events and trying to catch up, and constantly being told that he is "out of his element" and to "shut the fuck up" by Walter. (David Huddleston) — A wheelchair-bound multi-millionaire married to trophy wife, Bunny; his motives are perennially unclear. He is "The Big Lebowski" of the title. (Tara Reid) — Born Fawn Knutson, the Big Lebowski's wife is a young playbunny who has run away from her family in Moorhead, Minnesota; she is supposedly kidnapped, but at the end of the film it is revealed she has merely disappeared for a weekend without telling anyone. This is the central MacGuffin for the movie. She apparently owes money all over town, including to known pornographers."The Dude, Jeff Lebowski, talking to the "other Lebowski" (Huddleston) about compensation for the rug, which "really tied the room together." Refused, the Dude retorts, "No, this will not stand. This... aggression will not stand, man..." (echoing the famous President Bush comment before the Gulf War.)" The Dude, Jeff Lebowski, talking to the "other Lebowski" (Huddleston) about compensation for the rug, which (Philip Seymour Hoffman) - Jeffrey Lebowski's assistant, constantly nervous and echoing his boss. Despite his seeming ability to make everything he does appear proper, he is one of the few people The Dude meets during the context of the film to call The Dude by his self appointed name, rather than "Lebowski", "Mr. Lebowski", or "Jeffrey." (Julianne Moore) - Jeffrey Lebowski's daughter, a feminist avant-garde artist who believes her father's "weakness has always been vanity." Friends with Knox Harrington, the video artist. (Ben Gazzara) - a porn film director, who used to direct movies starring Bunny and 'Karl Hungus'. Woo, one of two thugs in his employ, micturates on The Dude's rug. — A group of ethnic Germans, led by porn star Uli Kunkel (aka "Karl Hungus", played by Peter Stormare), who claim belief in nihilism, though their actions belie this. Torsten Voges and musicians Flea of RHCP and Aimee Mann complete the foursome. The group were a Kraftwerkian techno-pop band called 'Autobahn' in the mid-'70s. They attempt to use the Bunny situation for financial gain.) A bowling nemisis of The Dude and Walter, Jesus (a convicted pederast, according to Walter) constantly trash-talks using violent sexual metaphors. (Jimmie Dale Gilmore) - Bowler on competing team whom Walter threatens with a firearm during league play after Smokey's toe allegedly slipped over the foul line. A pacifist and conscientious objector, Smokey is "fragile", but will submit illicit alley behavior to the league office. (Sam Elliott) - The narrator of the movie, looking at Los Angeles from an outsider's perspective. He does not see The Dude as a low-life, and even makes reference to him as an ironic tragic figure: "The Dude. Takin' 'er easy for all us sinners.""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"Behave Yourself" — written by Booker T. Jones, Steve Cropper, Al Jackson, Jr. and Lewie Steinberg, performed by Booker T. "I Hate You" — written by Gary Burger, David Havlicek, Roger Johnston, Thomas E. Shaw and Larry Spangler, performed by MonksJust Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In) — written by Mickey Newbury, performed by Kenny Rogers Jeff Bridges' father, Lloyd Bridges, died March 10, 1998, only four days after this film was first released.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."September 11, 1991, is the date the Dude writes on his check at Ralph's while watching President Bush declare war on Iraq. However, in a later scene, Marty the dancing super tells The Dude "Tomorrow's already the tenth," and to "slip the rent under my door.""The Dude" appears in all but three scenes: Jesus Quintana introducing himself to his Hollywood neighbors as a sex offender, the nihilists ordering a meal at a diner, and the scene of Bunny driving home.Unlike Donny, Walter, Jesus and Liam, The Dude is never seen actually bowling. The Dude is seen stretching before a game, but only uses the ball to strike out a Nihilist.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. [2]In the film, Walter uses the phrase, "That's what happens when you fuck a stranger in the ass". 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"., a beaver picture starring Bunny Lebowski, cable repairman Karl Hungus is seen driving a convertible BMW 3 Series that was not released until 1993, two years after the Lebowski saga takes place.In The Dude's second hallucination sequence, many visual elements from earlier in the film can be found. For instance, the black and white tiles were deliberately similar to those in the Lebowski mansion, and the gigantic scissors which chase The Dude are straight from a painting which can be seen in Maude Lebowski's home. 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 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 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.The first annual Lebowski Fest was held on Oct. 12, 2002. The event has its roots in Louisville, Kentucky, but has become so popular that "Lebowski Fest West" has been created to satisfy both coasts of the US. The Big Lebowski: Bowling for Buddha. Metaphilm review of The Big Lebowski. Accessed on 29 January 2006