|
New movie reviews, DVD reviews, interviews, and all things film.
Reviews A-C Reviews D-F Reviews G-J Reviews K-M Reviews N-Q Reviews R-T Reviews U-Z Redbelt **1/2 Roman de gare **1/2 Son of Rambow **1/2 Speed Racer [review coming soon] Still Life **** Iron Man *** More A Collection of 2007 Academy Award Nominated Short Films The Hottie and the Nottie I'm Not There Over Her Dead Body Paddle to the Sea The Red Balloon Silent Ozu: Three Family Comedies (Criterion Eclipse #10) Teeth Twister: Special Edition More My Top 60 Directors [Updated] Charlton Heston (1924-2008) Scott B. Smith Estelle Parsons Roger Donaldson Roy Scheider (1932-2008) Mike Binder James McAvoy Tony Gilroy David Cronenberg & Viggo Mortensen William Friedkin Peter Fonda & James Mangold Kasi Lemmons on Talk to Me Steve Buscemi on Interview Lynn Hershman-Leeson Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg & Nick Frost on Hot Fuzz Scott Frank, Joseph Gordon-Levitt & Matthew Goode The Top 50 Movies of the Past Ten Years (1997-2006) Bong Joon-ho, director of The Host Mark Polish, Michael Polish & Billy Bob Thornton My latest blog entries at cinematical.com The 'Mexican New Wave' Interview with Singaporian Filmmaker Djinn Joe Carnahan & Jeremy Piven Interview Terry Zwigoff on the new Bad Santa Director's Cut Alfonso Cuarón Interview Guillermo Del Toro Interview Chris Noonan Interview Robert Altman (1925-2006) Scarlett Johansson: A Study in Scarlett Christmas Movies Combustible Celluloid's Big Guide to Halloween & Horror Movies Joe Eszterhas Jet Li Zach Braff Kirby Dick James Ellroy Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson Adrien Brody Steve Irwin (1962-2006) Elisha Cuthbert/Jamie Babbit Matt Dillon David R. Ellis Maria Bello Brian O'Halloran and Jeff Anderson Mickey Spillane (1918-2006) Al Gore Cult Movies Actress Interview Gallery The Top 100 More Features and Interviews James Agee: The Library of America Collection, by James Agee Just Making Movies, by Ronald L. Davis Guide to Essential Movies, by Joe Leydon Cecil B. DeMille's Hollywood, by Robert S. Birchard Profoundly Disturbing, by Joe Bob Briggs A Third Face, by Samuel Fuller Dark Lover, by Emily Leider Agee on Film, by James Agee Lulu in Hollywood, by Louise Brooks Negative Space, by Manny Farber 5001 Nights at the Movies, by Pauline Kael More Books The online film magazine Combustible Celluloid offers new movie reviews, DVD reviews, film reviews, actor interviews, actress interviews, director interviews, film books and all things cinema related for the thoughtful and passionate. Online for ten years! Over 3000 reviews! Sign up for my weekly newsletter! More of Jeffrey's reviews are available at: Rotten Tomatoes and All Movie Portal. About Lists Gallery News Links E-mail me. |
The Big Lebowski (1998)Rating: 3 1/2 Stars (out of 4) The Dude AbidesBy Jeffrey M. Anderson
Even if you've seen all of Joel and Ethan Coen's movies to date, you still don't know what to expect from them. Their imaginations seem limitless. I walked into their seventh movie, The Big Lebowski, wondering if it would either be as great as Fargo, or as misguided as The Hudsucker Proxy. I was prepared for both, but I was not prepared for what I got. The Big Lebowski is a mystery story, which is rooted in Raymond Chandler, but it stops at those roots. Our hero isn't a smart tough guy. He's Jeff Lebowski, (played by Jeff Bridges) otherwise known as the Dude. He's a laid-back hippie who bowls and still calls everyone "man." Our narrator calls him one of the laziest men alive. The action starts when two thugs break into Dude's house, mistakenly thinking he's a millionaire named Jeff Lebowski (otherwise known as the Big Lebowski, played by David Huddleston from the title role in Santa Claus: The Movie). One of the thugs urinates on Dude's favorite rug. So he goes to the Big Lebowski's house to get a new one. From there, things twist and turn, and Dude finds himself as the liaison in a kidnapping case in which the victim is the Big Lebowski's trophy wife, Bunny (Tara Reid). Dude is assisted by his bowling buddy Walter Sobchak (John Goodman) who screws everything up. Where Dude is a pacifist, Walter is a Vietnam vet who constantly draws connections between the present day and the jungles of that war-torn country. Steve Buscemi is their other bowling buddy, Donny, who can't hold his attention on anything but his bowling ball. Julianne Moore plays the sultry Maude Lebowski (daughter of the Big Lebowski) who is straight out of Chandler, but tweaked for a Coen brothers movie. Like Fargo, The Big Lebowski is a perfect mix of comedy and crime movie. Unlike Miller's Crossing, the story is easy to follow. And like both movies, you have no idea what to expect in any given scene. Our imaginations are alive and jumping, trying to anticipate what's next. In one scene, Dude is knocked unconscious and we are privy to his wild nightmare hallucinations, which include lots of bowling imagery. Later, he is slipped a mickey by a porn producer (don't ask) and his dream world doubles in scope, actually topping the first dream sequence with the use of Busby Berkeley-type dance numbers. The Coens love their goofy characters. Sometimes you feel like they're making fun of them, and you don't know whether or not to believe in them. The reason Fargo was so great is that we got past that, thanks to great performances by Frances McDormand and William H. Macy. The Big Lebowski relies on the Coen company of stock players, Goodman, Buscemi, Peter Stormare, etc., so they feel more comfortable and go crazy. The Coens need to throw in a couple of moments of lucidity, where we can see the characters' souls for just a second. That moment comes in The Big Lebowski, in the very last scene, but I found myself wishing it had come earlier. That's a minor quibble. This is a terrific movie. "Imagination" is the key word here. You don't see many movies where the makers dare to dream of wild stuff and pull it off. I had a lot of fun, laughed, and got involved. It's nice work. DVD Details: This film has become a major cult classic in the years since 1998, and it definitely improves with subsequent viewings. Universal's DVD comes with both widescreen and pan-and-scan versions, so be sure to select the widescreen option. Other extras include cast & crew biographies, an interview with the Coen brothers, the teaser trailer, and optional Spanish and French subtitles. DVD Details: In 2005, Focus Features (Universal) released a new Collector's Edition of the film. It features the same 24-minute making-of featurette from the first disc, but this time the pan-and-scan option is eliminated. There's a jokey introduction from a "film preservationist, not unlike the new intro for Blood Simple. Also included are the production notes, and -- best of all -- an onscreen collection of Jeff Bridges' beautiful on-set photographs. Bridges shoots a collection of photographs on each film he makes and gives books to the cast and crew upon wrapping. These photos are rarely made available to the public, and they're absolutely worth seeing. Starring: Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Julianne Moore, Steven Buscemi, David Huddleston, John Turturro, Tara Reid, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Sam Elliott, David Thewliss |
| Home |
News |
Search Reviews |
Classic Movies |
DVDs |
Features |
Film Books |
Gallery |
Links |
About |
The Rating System |
Email Me |