It’s almost as though anomalous work is the trademark of Joel and Ethan Coen. The Big Lebowski, which came after their much-hailed Fargo, is one of the most bizarre and oddly yet thoroughly enjoyable movies ever made. The timing of it, coming off of a movie that was described as “perfect” by the likes of Roger Ebert and handed numerous awards, is not even close to being the strangest thing about Lebowski. Nor is the fact that these arthouse filmmakers somehow turned out one of the most fratboy-quotable movies of all time, a crass comedy with a hero that defies categorization.
Those who believe the Coens are patronizing towards their protagonists really ought to view every other one of their films through the prism of The Dude. This is a character for whom they clearly have a significant amount of affection, despite (maybe because of?) the fact that he’s objectively no more schmucky than Barton Fink, Jerry Lundegard or Norville Barnes. Jeff Bridges’ performance is a marvel here, balanced by John Goodman’s equally iconic work as Walter Sobchak. The coup of it all is that the same guys who made a film as technically tight and beautiful as Fargo turned around and made one of the most artfully offbeat and crass buddy stoner comedies of all time. That’s some impressive versatility.
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