The Big Lebowski
The Coen Brothers are generally loved by all. Their directing efforts are like a cool, refreshing breeze in the Summer sun. Their films, even their darker films, have a sense of humor that runs underneath, in the backbone of their films, only rising to the surface occasionally.
This is the Coen Brothers at their wackiest; Jeff Bridges plays a fantastic character named Jeff Lebowski, or as he likes to be called, "The Dude", "Duder", or "His Dudeness". He's been mistaken for another Jeff Lebowski, a millionaire with an avant guarde artist daughter(played nicely by Julianne Moore). Bridges is really outstanding in the role. He's perfect as "The Dude."
All Dude wants to do is bowl. Bowl with buddies Walter(John Goodman) and Donny(Steve Buscemi). Some of the best scenes in the film are at the bowling alley during league play when the group takes on other pros like Jesus Quintana( a phenomenal performance by John Tuturro).
Anyways, to the story. The Millionaire Lebowski has had his trophy wife kidnapped; the deadbeat "Dude" is asked to find her. It's a lot of fun watching Bridges warped character trying to figure his way around clues with his brain completely fried on numerous substances. His performance is simply hilarious; he's got the timing and manner of his character down flat.
What I didn't like about the film is that it does go off on a few loose ends that simply don't have much to do with the story, but that's mainly towards the end; the fact remains though that I didn't feel like I was watching a story with "The Big Lebowski", or at least a story as I know it: what this film is is more a piece of moving artwork. This is shown in the dream sequences of the film, mainly, which are great. You just don't worry about where the story is going; you simply let the Coens lead you down their absurdist, wonderfully wacky yellow brick road, this time, to the land of L.A.
It's a fun, witty and wildly entertaining film from the Coen brothers.
The DVD:
Picture: Polygram has done a really nice job on the transfer of "The Big Lebowski" to DVD. Colors are rich and natural and shadows and contrast are done really wonderfully. The brighter scenes are really great, where some of the darker scenes seemed just good. Overall, though, it's an impressive transfer, with the bowling scenes showing up especially fantastically.
Sound: The soundtrack is full of outstanding classic rock, recorded and transfered wonderfully to disc. Especially the scene where John Tuturro's character, Jesus, is first on screen while "Hotel California" plays in the background.
Extras: I love the funky bowling theme in the menus...wonderfully done. The disc also includes the teaser trailer(which I believe was originally attached to "The Game") as well as a documentary on the making of the film which includes interviews with the Coen Brothers as well as the rest of the cast. The documentary runs around 25 minutes or so.
Overall: A really sweet transfer of a wild, fun, well done and entertaining film. I also love when I can choose letterboxed or pan/scan from the menu, even though that's obviously not always possible and I always choose letterboxed anyway. Something I just like about the ability to choose in the menu.
Region:1
Rated:R
Running Time:98 Min
Suggested Retail Price:$29.98
Picture:A-
Audio:A-
Menus:B
Film:B
Extras:B-
Overall:B
