The Big Lebowski [Blu-ray]

Director: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen Joel Coen

Overview

The plot of this Raymond Chandler-esque comedy crime caper from the Coen Brothers (Joel Coen and Ethan Coen) pivots around a case of mistaken identity complicated by extortion, double-crosses, deception, embezzlement, sex, pot, and gallons of White Russians (made with fresh cream, please). In 1991, unemployed '60s refugee Jeff "The Dude" Lebowski (Jeff Bridges) grooves into his laid-back Los Angeles lifestyle. One of the laziest men in LA, he enjoys hanging with his bowling buddies, pompous security-store owner Walter Sobchak (John Goodman) and mild-mannered ex-surfer Donny (Steve Buscemi). However, the Dude's life takes an alternate route the afternoon two goons break into his threadbare Venice, California, bungalow, rough him up, and urinate on his living room rug. Why? Because Jackie Treehorn (Ben Gazzara) is owed money by the wife of a certain Jeff Lebowski. However, the goons grabbed the wrong Jeff Lebowski. With the right info, they would have invaded the home of philanthropic Pasadena millionaire Jeffrey Lebowski (David Huddleston). The Dude looks up his wealthy namesake, manages to get a replacement for his rug, and meets the millionaire's sexy young wife Bunny (Tara Reid). Later, Jeffrey ("The Big") Lebowski calls in the Dude to deliver a $1 million ransom for the return of his kidnapped wife. Fine -- except that Walter intrudes and botches the ransom drop. As events unravel, the Dude gets caught up in the schemes of Lebowski's daughter, erotic artist Maude (Julianne Moore), encounters both cops and bad guys, and drifts through an elaborate bowling fantasy sequence titled Gutterballs. The soundtrack includes Bob Dylan, Yma Sumac, Moondog, Captain Beefheart, and the Sons of the Pioneers.

Product Details

Release Date:	11/15/2011
UPC:	0025192110306
Original Release:	1998
Rating:	R
Source:	STUDIO DISTRIBUTION SERVS LLC
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo]
Language:	English
Time:	1:59:00
Sales rank:	13,142

Special Features

The Dude's life; The Dude abides: the Big Lebowski ten years later; Flying carpets and bowling pin dreams: the dream sequence of the Dude; Making of the Big Lebowski; The Lebowski fest: an achiever's story; Jeff Bridges photo book; Photo gallery

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Jeff Bridges	Le Dude
John Goodman	Walter Sobchak
Julianne Moore	Maude Lebowski
Steve Buscemi	Donny
Peter Stormare	Nihilist
David Huddleston	The Big Lebowski
Philip Seymour Hoffman	Brandt
Flea	Nihilist
Leon Russom	Malibu Police Chief
Sam Elliott	The Stranger,Narrator
Tara Reid	Bunny Lebowski
John Turturro	Jesus Quintana
David Thewlis	Knox Harrington
Ben Gazzara	Jackie Treehorn
Jimmie Dale Gilmore	Smokey
Torsten Voges	Franz--Nihilist
Philip Moon	Treehorn Thug
Mark Pellegrino	Treehorn Thug
Jack Kehler	Dude's Landlord
James G. Hoosier	Quintana's Partner
Carlos Leon	Maude's Thug
Terrance Burton	Maude's Thug
Richard Gant	Older Cop
Christian Clemenson	Younger Cop
Dom Irrera	Tony the Chauffeur
Gerard L'Heureux	Lebowski's Chauffeur
Lu Elrod	Coffee Shop Waitress
Michael Gomez	Auto Circus Cop
Peter Siragusa	Gary the Bartender
Marshall Manesh	Doctor
Mary Bugin	Arthur Digby Sellers,Arthur Digby Sellers
Jesse Flanagan	Little Larry Sellers
Luis Colina	Corvette Owner
Ajgie Kirkland	Cab Driver
Jon Polito	Private Snoop
Aimee Mann	Nihilist Woman
Jerry Haleva	Saddam
Jennifer Lamb	Pancake Waitress
Warren David Keith	Funeral Director
Irene Olga López	Pilar
Ethan Coen	Actor,Actor
Asia Carrera	Actor
Carter Burwell	Composer

Technical Credits

Joel Coen

Joel Coen	Director,Screenwriter,Screenwriter,Producer,Director
Tim Bevan	Executive Producer,Producer
Eric Fellner	Executive Producer,Producer
John Lyons	Casting
Janek Sirrs	Special Effects
Janet Yale	Special Effects
Benjamin Cheah	Sound Effects
Rick Freeman	Sound Effects
Peter Chesney	Special Effects
Allan Byer	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

An unlikely mélange of bowling, Budweiser, and some Raymond Chandler-inspired L.A. noir turns out to be a perfect blend in The Big Lebowski, a virtuoso comedy from Joel and Ethan Coen. Jeff Bridges portrays Jeff Lebowski (known to his friends as "the Dude") -- a lazy, unemployed, and eminently likable stoner with a taste for Kahlùa who gets accidentally involved in a convoluted kidnapping case. Bridges is perfect as a textbook fish out of water, blundering his way through the complex plot like a memory-impaired Phillip Marlowe with a White-Russian mustache and taking more punches than even the hardest of hard-boiled detectives. Along for the ride is John Goodman, who plays the Dude's best friend and bowling partner, a buffoonish Vietnam vet with a hair-trigger temper and an endless supply of harebrained schemes. Simply put, this might be the gnarliest of noir send-ups. Meanwhile, the visuals cast unexpected light on the mechanics of bowling, as tour-de-force montages of shiny lanes and ball's-eye views whet one's appetite for a little ten-pin action. As is typical for a Coen brothers film, The Big Lebowski is genre savvy and multi-referential: riffing on the Dude's stonerdom, they provide a few hallucinogenic, Busby Berkeley-style fantasy sequences for those moments when he is knocked senseless. And riffing on his all-important nickname, they frame the whole film with a cowboy monologue, delivered in a liquid-smooth basso by Sam Elliot. Yes, The Big Lebowski may be a strange brew, but it tastes great and has "a kick like a mule."

Barnes & Noble - Gregory Baird

Those who preferred the cut-and-dry, linear plotline of the Coen brothers' Fargo (1996) might be advised to stay away from the duo's gleefully absurd follow-up, The Big Lebowski. The film doesn't have much use for established storytelling techniques; it's more of a series of bizarre vignettes, which might be a problem if they weren't so funny. The title character, brilliantly played by Jeff Bridges, is a latter-day, stoner version of Philip Marlowe; it's one of the many homages the Coens make to films of decades past. The supporting players -- including John Goodman as Lebowski's buddy, and John Turturro as the wonderfully profane bowling champ Jesus -- are excellent as well. Lebowski performed tepidly at the box office, perhaps because of the inevitable post-Fargo backlash. Much like the Coens' earlier cult classic Raising Arizona (1987), it's the kind of film that audiences either love or hate.

All Movie Guide