Welcome to si Hotel California! (The Big Lebowski (DVD))

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Product:	The Big Lebowski (DVD)
Date:	15/04/08 (38 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Funny

Disadvantages: Disjointed

The Big Lebowski is the 1998 film from the Coen brothers, Ethan and Joel. Both share the writing credits, with Joel on his own as director.

The Plot

Jeff' The Dude' Lebowski is an ageing hippy going about his life slumming it. He is mistaken for a millionaire with the same name as him, and his rug is defaced. Angered by this insult, Dude goes to see the real millionaire Jeff Lebowski and demands some kind of recompense. Dude accepts a job with a high pay out, and thinks this could solve matters, but it doesn;t. It only serves to complicate matters even further, as evryone is clamoring for a piece of the Dude!

The Cast and Performances

Jeff Bridges plays the Dude very well. It seems effortless for him to portray a washed up bum with no direction in life. John Goodman is Dude's bowling buddy Walter, a Jewish gun lover who is angry at pretty much everything. Julianne Moore plays Maude Lebowski, a woman desperate to conceive, and with strange but effective cameos from Philip Seymour Hoffman, Tara Reid, and the brilliant Steve Buscemi, the cast manage somehow in the madness to gel together in an effective way. Special note must go to John Turturro as Jesus Quintana - brilliant arrogance!

My Opinion

I am still not sure if I like this film or not. The plot is so weird that you just have to laugh, and some of the acting is profoundly funny. Yet there is something niggling and annoying that I found about the film. It was just not easy to watch at all. I could not relax and watch, and sometimes I was laughing because I flt I should. There are some genius scenes, particularly at the bowling alley with Jeff Bridges and John Goodman bouncing off each other to good effect, and the sexual predator in Julianne Moore is relentlessly bombarding the Dude, resulting in a weird but funny film.

Conclusion

Funnt but not sure why.............

I ratge this film at 3 stars out of 5.

The DVD is available from amazon.co.uk for £4.98.

This review may also be posted on ciao.co.uk.

Thanks for reading.

Summary: The Big Lebowski (1998)