EF Classics: The Big Lebowski (1998)

(V.O. in low western drawl) “Sometimes there’s a man— well, he’s the man for his time and place. He fits right in there. And that’s the dude, in Los Angeles. And even if he’s a lazy man, and the dude was most certainly that— quite possibly the laziest in Los Angeles county, which would place him high in the running for laziest worldwide. But sometimes there’s a man— sometimes there’s a man…. I lost my train of thought here. But— Ah Hell! I done introduced him enough.” – The Stranger (Sam Elliot)

The Dude abides. And with one verb, the Coen Brothers and Jeff Bridges originated the most beloved cult movie character of all time— an early retired beach bum who’s magnetic aura attracts a host of crazy makers from various haunts of LA circa 1990. Most notably the bowling alley.

Mistaken for another Jeffrey Lebowski, “The Dude” is ambushed one night in his apartment by two goons who immediately plunge his head into the toilet. “Where’s the money Lebowski!? Where’s the fucking money, shithead!!?”

Mane soaked and gasping for air, The Dude finds the only winning move in a losing position. “Ughh.. Uh.. Um, it’s down there somewhere; let me take another look.”

The wisecrack sets the tone for the antics that follow— a reluctant hero’s comedic fever-trip through the bowels of Southern California. The Dude answers the call to save a pretty not-that-innocent girl (Tara Reid) from her deutsche autobahn accented captors. Drinking unlimited White Russians and rolling rocks with his pals, Walter (John Goodman) and Donnie (Steve Buscemi) along the way.

The Dude’s belligerent best friend, Walter Sobchak’s (John Goodman) irrational (but perfectly rational) outbursts make for the downright funniest moments of the whole experience.

Plus, movie conspiracists take note: one fan theory posits that quiet mysterious, Donnie, may in fact be Steve Buscemi’s Con Air serial killer character, Garland Greene some years after escaping the smoldering fuselage in Las Vegas and changing is name!

The influential characters, coupled with subtle satire and an eclectic soundtrack, made The Big Lebowski the perfect counter-culture centerfold for Rolling Stone authors to blow their vernacular load on back in the magazine’s waning hey-day. Before the aging hippies’ North Star became inverted by The Man, as did most of our cherished institutions by the early part of the 21st century.

The Dude is an endangered species today like Shamu. His habitat has come under fire both literal and figurative. His chill way of life threatened by mad men with too much influence. Maybe the narrator was right, The Dude was the man for his time and place (and only). For true followers of Dudeism he is a soothing and everlasting reminder that when you can’t prevent an insult, lean into it.

-Experience Film