The Task: Watch and write about every movie on my shelf, in order (Blu-rays are sorted after DVDs), by June 10, 2015. Remaining movies: 80 Days to go: 55
Movie #360: The Big Lebowski
How overrated is The Big Lebowski? It’s revered by people young and old, fans of its absurdist nature. It has a cult status, and any number of people — both expected and not — will quote it to you. But is it deserving of all that praise? I think not.
Now, to be clear, I don’t hate The Big Lebowski. I just don’t think it’s the greatest, funniest film of all time like some people seem to treat it as. I think it’s okay. Funny in parts, unnecessarily surreal in others (perhaps to seem more artistic — more important — than it actually is). Basically, it’s like the hipster of movies, overly self-aware of its own image and somewhat derisive of anyone not cool enough to “get it.”
That amount of manufactured coolness is tiresome to me. I’d rather just enjoy the funny parts of the film and ignore the rest — the result of which is that I’ve seen The Big Lebowski probably four or five times at this point, and I never remember a single signifying thing about it until I see it again. It goes completely in and out of my brain, leaving no mark whatsoever. This fact frustrates my husband no end, because he loves to quote it and I’m always looking at him like, “What are you talking about?!” Sorry, honey.
For my money, the best parts of the film are the characters, but not all of them are equally great. The top one unsurprisingly comes from Julianne Moore. As Maude Lebowski, the fierce, fearless, outspoken millionaire artist with the sensible intellectualism and dry monotone, Moore is fully committed to whatever goofy thing her character is doing, be it painting while swinging from wires or dance-bowling in an operatic viking costume. I would kind of love to see Maude as a mother, and if there ever was a call for a sequel, I hope it would be solely about that. I bet her child read Nietzsche at eight years old and was the human centerpiece of a very successful art installation at twelve. She probably grew up to be Sia.
On the other end of the spectrum, my least favorite character actually comes in the form of Jeff Bridges as the Dude. Bridges is just as committed to his role as Moore is to hers (or perhaps too committed, as he doesn’t seem to have really abandoned the role in the seventeen years since he took it on), but it’s the character in general I dislike. There is nothing — NOTHING — appealing to me about some gross, stoned slacker who dresses in Zubaz pants and writes checks for less than a dollar at the grocery store and who is not a 19-year-old college student. Be zen, be alcoholic, be whatever the hell you want. Just do it somewhere else. (Thankfully, I feel confident that the Dude doesn’t care about my opinion, and we can both happily exist in the world without ever having to interact or interfere with one another. It takes all kinds.)
John Goodman as Walter is kind of both one of the best and one of the worst characters, fully confident in all things at all times, to the point where he is a raging asshole more often than not. In a way, he’s the complete antithesis of the Dude, and yet the two of them are joined at the hip. Why is this? What draws these two together? Is bowling really that much of a uniting principle? Or is the Dude simply the only person drunk and passive enough to (mostly) withstand Walter’s constant Vietnam rants? Whatever the reason, some of the best moments in the film are when Walter’s militant forcefulness erupts all over the Dude’s previously uncomplicated life. Like with the “ringer.” Or the multiple times Dude’s car got trashed. Or Donny’s (Steve Buscemi) ashes all over the Dude’s face. That’s my favorite.
I also really like — in her tiny little role — Tara Reid as Bunny. She’s young, outrageous, and purposefully provocative before that became her public persona. She drives like a maniac, runs off on a whim, and sings “Viva Las Vegas” at the top of her lungs. Plus, as Walter predicted, she keeps all her toes. I kind of feel like Brandt (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and the Big Lebowski (David Huddleston) deserve her.
The movie is definitely funny. I like it fine. I just don’t love it. And that’s my prerogative. The Dude still abides, regardless.
Viable Option 