Big Lebowski - I get the worship (1 Viewer)

[Joe Bryant]

I'm not sure how I missed it all these years but just finally saw the Big Lebowski.I liked it quite a bit. Bridges was good. And Goodman and Buscemi were great. Although I would have liked to see a lot more from Buscemi. But the dialog when all 3 were together was top notch.The Dude was tiresome with the hippie shtick but it was ok. As I said, I liked it a lot.I'm just not sure I get the love I see for it by some. Can you help me understand?J

Joe, it's only one of the best movies ever made. It's like a good soup...better the second time around.F

People can watch and enjoy (or dislike) whatever they want for all I care.But I have watched . . . and rewatched . . . this movie many, many times and I still don't find it funny. And I like a ton of comedies, even movies that others say is not funny at all. So it's not like I have high brow tastes and am poo-pooing this film because of it.I have tried many times to give this movie a chance and I am not sure if I laughed at all. It just COMPLETELY did not strike a chord with me.If I were writing a comedy, I would use Lebowski as a resource of "HOW NOT TO WRITE A COMEDY."But that's just me, and I understand that many people love this movie like there is no tomorrow. I admit, I don't get it, and maybe the 101st viewing it will suddenly get funny.

Hi David,How much time do you have that you can watch a movie "many times" that you don't like?J

it's called college.

I think David is well past college.J

 

[tommyboy]

its just well written, well acted. Its like a lot of the comedy genre, it either works or it doesn't, is memorable or isn't.

i've only seen it once but there are several scenes I recall. Its smart.

 

[Chaka]

The responses in this thread should explain why people love it so much.They love the dialog exchanges.It's my favorite comedy ever. Liked it the first time around, agree The Dude seemed a bit contrived... But after multiple viewings you see more and more nuances and it just gets funnier. Only weak spot is the dream sequences are overdone.

the dream sequences eat

Not in the least.

 

[David Yudkin]

I'm not sure how I missed it all these years but just finally saw the Big Lebowski.I liked it quite a bit. Bridges was good. And Goodman and Buscemi were great. Although I would have liked to see a lot more from Buscemi. But the dialog when all 3 were together was top notch.The Dude was tiresome with the hippie shtick but it was ok. As I said, I liked it a lot.I'm just not sure I get the love I see for it by some. Can you help me understand?J

Joe, it's only one of the best movies ever made. It's like a good soup...better the second time around.F

People can watch and enjoy (or dislike) whatever they want for all I care.But I have watched . . . and rewatched . . . this movie many, many times and I still don't find it funny. And I like a ton of comedies, even movies that others say is not funny at all. So it's not like I have high brow tastes and am poo-pooing this film because of it.I have tried many times to give this movie a chance and I am not sure if I laughed at all. It just COMPLETELY did not strike a chord with me.If I were writing a comedy, I would use Lebowski as a resource of "HOW NOT TO WRITE A COMEDY."But that's just me, and I understand that many people love this movie like there is no tomorrow. I admit, I don't get it, and maybe the 101st viewing it will suddenly get funny.

Hi David,How much time do you have that you can watch a movie "many times" that you don't like?J

I probably watched it 10 times over the years. As many already know, I was big into bowling, so I had bowling buddies that always wanted to watch it. Saw it in the theater twice and probably 8 times on vidence people heard I didn't love it, people would try to get me to watch it again (usually getting me liquored up in the process).I generally don't watch movies 10 times, so for me that is "many, many times" in trying to give it a chance. Different strokes for different folks, I guess.

 

[17seconds]

Pick whatever piece of entertainment you love. You love every part about it. You enjoy things about it that you wouldn't if you were viewing it critically. That's what The Big Lebowski is like for me.

You could turn it on at any point in the movie with likeminded friends at your place and it's instant good time.

NOBODY ####S WITH THE JESUS!!!

 

[cstu]

All I can say is that not everyone "gets" every type of humor. I don't understand why people think Blazing Saddles is so funny but don't like TBL or Office Space.

 

[snitwitch]

The responses in this thread should explain why people love it so much.They love the dialog exchanges.It's my favorite comedy ever. Liked it the first time around, agree The Dude seemed a bit contrived... But after multiple viewings you see more and more nuances and it just gets funnier. Only weak spot is the dream sequences are overdone.

the dream sequences eat

Not in the least.

 

[NorvilleBarnes]

Unwatchable, IMO. Hate O Brother, Where Art Thou as well. Fargo in my top 20 all time.

Can't really debate movie likes or dislikes but I would bet you're in a small group that hated Lewbowski and Oh Brother but has Fargo in your top 20. J

Liked Fargo, loved O Brother, hated Lebowski. I know I'll watch Lebowski again - too many people have told me it gets better with each viewing.

 

[Finless]

Unwatchable, IMO. Hate O Brother, Where Art Thou as well. Fargo in my top 20 all time.

Can't really debate movie likes or dislikes but I would bet you're in a small group that hated Lewbowski and Oh Brother but has Fargo in your top 20. J

Liked Fargo, loved O Brother, hated Lebowski. I know I'll watch Lebowski again - too many people have told me it gets better with each viewing.

Norville, not you...

 

[Das Boot]

I don't even find the movie mildly amusing. Just a disjointed blob of bore.

I don't think you're alone, but you are probably in the minority.

Most of my best B&M friends have this movie in their top 10 if not top 3. I know I'm in the minority but I have no idea why. It's like one of those patterns with the hidden image covered up and everyone sees the naked lady but me. I WANT TO SEE THE NAKED LADY!

The key to all Coen Bros movies: enjoy the characters and the movie will follow.

 

[NorvilleBarnes]

Unwatchable, IMO. Hate O Brother, Where Art Thou as well. Fargo in my top 20 all time.

Can't really debate movie likes or dislikes but I would bet you're in a small group that hated Lewbowski and Oh Brother but has Fargo in your top 20. J

Liked Fargo, loved O Brother, hated Lebowski. I know I'll watch Lebowski again - too many people have told me it gets better with each viewing.

Norville, not you...

Hated, HATED it. Got on my nerves. I didn't care about any of the characters or the story. Give em his rug back. Or kill him. Or kill me, just end already.

 

[KoolKat]

Unwatchable, IMO. Hate O Brother, Where Art Thou as well. Fargo in my top 20 all time.

Can't really debate movie likes or dislikes but I would bet you're in a small group that hated Lewbowski and Oh Brother but has Fargo in your top 20. J

Liked Fargo, loved O Brother, hated Lebowski. I know I'll watch Lebowski again - too many people have told me it gets better with each viewing.

Norville, not you...

Hated, HATED it. Got on my nerves. I didn't care about any of the characters or the story. Give em his rug back. Or kill him. Or kill me, just end already.

Ya....Well at least I'm housebroken!

 

[Finless]

Smokey, this is not Nam This is bowling. There are rules.

 

[Mr.Kitty]

"Racially he's pretty cool?"

The Dude wrote a check for 69 cents . . . that's funny.

 

[Finless]

"Racially he's pretty cool?"The Dude wrote a check for 69 cents . . . that's funny.

Little known fact and I posted this here before. When Bush says "this aggression will not stand" and The Dude is writing the check the date is September 11th 1991. Go back and watch it.

 

[Kumerica]

Hated, HATED it. Got on my nerves. I didn't care about any of the characters or the story. Give em his rug back. Or kill him. Or kill me, just end already.

Careful, man! There's a beverage here!

 

[Finless]

...it's my dirty laudry, dude...the whites

 

[Kumerica]

...it's my dirty laudry, dude...the whites

at "the whites"

 

[ForWhoForWhat]

"Racially he's pretty cool?"The Dude wrote a check for 69 cents . . . that's funny.

.imdb.com has some cool nuggets and assorted tid bits about the movie. a neat facteroo about the check - it is dated 9/11, forget which yearMaude: You can only imagine what happens nextThe Dude: He fixes the cable?

 

[Socrates11]

Three thousand years of beautiful tradition, from Moses to Sandy Koufax...

 

[Sigmund Bloom]

I have no idea how to explain it J, but Lebowski was an instant classic in my group. Quoting the movie is like a language in itself, and there are lines from the movie that fit a wide range of things that come up in life. Rarely does a day go by that doesn't remind me of something in Lebowski (I can say the same for the Wire, Simpsons, and Seinfeld). Certain lines have become mantras - from the scene where they make the drop: "Nothing is ****** here dude, nothing is ******, you're being very un-dude" - in my group, you can say that to someone who is overreacting to a situation and they laugh and get the message and instantly realize that nothing really is ******. Does that make sense? It's hard to get at with words, why this movie is worshipped - but I'm trying.

A lot of the good points have been hit already - the dialogue and the characters being HUGE parts. I also love the essence of the story. A dude is just living his unmolested life and a case of mistaken identity pulls him into this foreign world where nothing makes sense. Now, in the Joseph Campbell hero's quest sense, he SHOULD undergo a transformation - thats what happens in movies - but what's so beautiful about the movie is that he doesn't. "**** it, Dude, Let's go bowling" - in the end, they just do what they always do. For a lot of people, that is a much more accurate depiction of life than a story where people transcend or overcome.

 

[David Yudkin]

Of the Coen movies that I have seen, Big Lebowski was the only one that I didn't like. I enjoyed No Country, Fargo, Hudsucker Proxy, Raising Arizona, and Miller's Crossing. (Those are the only films of theirs that I have seen). I liked Bad Santa too, but I'm not sure we can call that a Coen Brothers movie.

Hats off to thiose that love Big Lebowski. Maybe some day I'll "get it".

 

[Despyzer]

too many people have told me it gets better with each viewing.

This is the first I'm hearing of this. Can anyone corroborate?

 

[Tremendous Upside]

Of the Coen movies that I have seen, Big Lebowski was the only one that I didn't like. I enjoyed No Country, Fargo, Hudsucker Proxy, Raising Arizona, and Miller's Crossing. (Those are the only films of theirs that I have seen). I liked Bad Santa too, but I'm not sure we can call that a Coen Brothers movie.Hats off to thiose that love Big Lebowski. Maybe some day I'll "get it".

What does Bad Santa have to do with the Coens?

 

[Tacos al Carboner]

Of the Coen movies that I have seen, Big Lebowski was the only one that I didn't like. I enjoyed No Country, Fargo, Hudsucker Proxy, Raising Arizona, and Miller's Crossing. (Those are the only films of theirs that I have seen). I liked Bad Santa too, but I'm not sure we can call that a Coen Brothers movie.Hats off to thiose that love Big Lebowski. Maybe some day I'll "get it".

What does Bad Santa have to do with the Coens?

They produced it.

 

[Joe Bryant]

Three thousand years of beautiful tradition, from Moses to Sandy Koufax...

That may have been my favorite line of the movie.J

 

[Neo]

Wow, I missed this thread yesterday....late to the party.

 

[saintfool]

Of the Coen movies that I have seen, Big Lebowski was the only one that I didn't like. I enjoyed No Country, Fargo, Hudsucker Proxy, Raising Arizona, and Miller's Crossing. (Those are the only films of theirs that I have seen). I liked Bad Santa too, but I'm not sure we can call that a Coen Brothers movie.Hats off to thiose that love Big Lebowski. Maybe some day I'll "get it".

I'm with you, DavYud. "Lebowski" was the first false note in the Coen Bros stable of films. Prior to that, I felt they were the best filmmakers in Hollywood. They have made others - like "Intolerable Cruelty", "The LadyKillers" and "The Man Who Wasn't There" - that were either boring or boorish. A buddy of mine says that there are two types of people. There are those that love/identify with "Lebowski" and there are those that love/identify with "Rushmore". There is a grain of truth to it, I think...

 

[CGRdrJoe]

You're out of your element?

You have no frame of reference here Joe, you're like a child who wanders into the middle of a movie and wants to know....

Am I wrong?J

I just really like the dialogue, and the bizarre situations that these characters get themselves into. What I think hurts it for many people is what you hit upon with the hippie schtick thing: the main characters aren't especially likeable. The Dude is a lazy bum and Walter an irritable and violent sociopath, but I think their unlikely friendship and respect is really entertaining.

Insisting on everyone calling him the Dude was And I do suppose it was less so before Dude got to be so tired. I did love the friendship thing though. That was funny.Was there anything significant about the white russians? Is there some hippie connection there?J

Oh the irony, you sign all your posts with a J even though your name is Joe.

 

[D_House]

Of the Coen movies that I have seen, Big Lebowski was the only one that I didn't like. I enjoyed No Country, Fargo, Hudsucker Proxy, Raising Arizona, and Miller's Crossing. (Those are the only films of theirs that I have seen). I liked Bad Santa too, but I'm not sure we can call that a Coen Brothers movie.

Hats off to thiose that love Big Lebowski. Maybe some day I'll "get it".

I'm with you, DavYud. "Lebowski" was the first false note in the Coen Bros stable of films. Prior to that, I felt they were the best filmmakers in Hollywood. They have made others - like "Intolerable Cruelty", "The LadyKillers" and "The Man Who Wasn't There" - that were either boring or boorish. A buddy of mine says that there are two types of people. There are those that love/identify with "Lebowski" and there are those that love/identify with "Rushmore". There is a grain of truth to it, I think...

Maybe... I didn't "get" Rushmore, but love Lebowski. But I'm sure there are people that love/hate both.

 

[AhrnCityPahnder]

A buddy of mine says that there are two types of people. There are those that love/identify with "Lebowski" and there are those that love/identify with "Rushmore". There is a grain of truth to it, I think...

interesting concept. I loved lebowski and don't get all the drooling for Rushmore (or any of Wes Anderson's movies, for that matter).

 

[Aaron Rudnicki]

A buddy of mine says that there are two types of people. There are those that love/identify with "Lebowski" and there are those that love/identify with "Rushmore". There is a grain of truth to it, I think...

interesting concept. I loved lebowski and don't get all the drooling for Rushmore (or any of Wes Anderson's movies, for that matter).

Lebowski and Bottle Rocket are both in my top-5 favorite movies of all time. I liked Rushmore but don't get the love for it that many people have.

 

[Kumerica]

Love Lebowski and Rushmore. But, if forced to choose, I roll with The Dude & Co.

 

[koby925]

I've seen it twice. People I know and respect love it...I absolutely hate it.

Me: Why do you like it? What am I missing?

Them: It's hilarious.

Me: That movie is a comedy?

Unwatchable, IMO. Hate O Brother, Where Art Thou as well. Fargo in my top 20 all time.

thoughts on Raising Arizona?

Love it. Lebowski completely misses me and it has nothing to do with plot structure. I actually watched it once with a friend and asked him to point out the funny parts and then we paused the movie and he explained to me why the part was funny and then I explained why I thought it wasn't. I don't even find the movie mildly amusing. Just a disjointed blob of bore. Goodman's performance is one of my bottom 2 of all-time just ahead of Ice-T in New Jack City.

"I wanna shoot you so bad, my ####'s hard!"

 

[valence]

I liked Rushmore but don't get the love for it that many people have.

The scene where Bill Murray is walking across a basketall court while on the phone and swats that kids shot... It gets me rolling every time.

 

[Ghost Rider]

"Near the In-N-Out Burger!"

 

[snitwitch]

too many people have told me it gets better with each viewing.

This is the first I'm hearing of this. Can anyone corroborate?

It took me 2 or 3 viewings to really start to appreciate it. Then I bought the DVD, along with Spinal Tap and Zoolander it's one of the few DVDs I own.

 

[newteech]

One thing that's unique about this movie is that it's a comedy mixed with a thriller. I don't know of any other movie that pulled this off so well. When I first watched it I thought that Bunny actually had been kidnapped. I really felt for the Dude as I thought he was seriously screwed.

Also the writing is creative. I love how the Dude repeats the dialogue he has heard from other characters earlier in the movie.

 

[Despyzer]

too many people have told me it gets better with each viewing.

This is the first I'm hearing of this. Can anyone corroborate?

It took me 2 or 3 viewings to really start to appreciate it. Then I bought the DVD, along with Spinal Tap and Zoolander it's one of the few DVDs I own.

So... are you saying it gets better each time you watch it?

 

[snitwitch]

too many people have told me it gets better with each viewing.

This is the first I'm hearing of this. Can anyone corroborate?

It took me 2 or 3 viewings to really start to appreciate it. Then I bought the DVD, along with Spinal Tap and Zoolander it's one of the few DVDs I own.

So... are you saying it gets better each time you watch it?

Yeah, I don't think this has been mentioned before, but it definitely gets better and better each time you watch it.

 

[Chaka]

Of the Coen movies that I have seen, Big Lebowski was the only one that I didn't like. I enjoyed No Country, Fargo, Hudsucker Proxy, Raising Arizona, and Miller's Crossing. (Those are the only films of theirs that I have seen). I liked Bad Santa too, but I'm not sure we can call that a Coen Brothers movie.

Hats off to thiose that love Big Lebowski. Maybe some day I'll "get it".

I'm with you, DavYud. "Lebowski" was the first false note in the Coen Bros stable of films. Prior to that, I felt they were the best filmmakers in Hollywood. They have made others - like "Intolerable Cruelty", "The LadyKillers" and "The Man Who Wasn't There" - that were either boring or boorish. A buddy of mine says that there are two types of people. There are those that love/identify with "Lebowski" and there are those that love/identify with "Rushmore". There is a grain of truth to it, I think...

I am a big fan of both.

 

[saintfool]

I am a big fan of both.

Who do you love more: your mother or your father?

 

[Despyzer]

I am a big fan of both.

Who do you love more: your mother or your father?

That one's so easy I can answer for him: The Giants.

 

[17seconds]

Now, in the Joseph Campbell hero's quest sense, he SHOULD undergo a transformation - thats what happens in movies - but what's so beautiful about the movie is that he doesn't. "**** it, Dude, Let's go bowling" - in the end, they just do what they always do.

Thanks for that description, I didn't think about it that way. Just another reason to love it.

 

[Nipsey]

The Guardian criticized the film as "a bunch of ideas shoveled into a bag and allowed to spill out at random. The film is infuriating, and will win no prizes.

Pretty much nailed it. John Turturro's worst performance ever as well.

 

[NorvilleBarnes]

A buddy of mine says that there are two types of people. There are those that love/identify with "Lebowski" and there are those that love/identify with "Rushmore". There is a grain of truth to it, I think...

interesting concept. I loved lebowski and don't get all the drooling for Rushmore (or any of Wes Anderson's movies, for that matter).

Didn't like either one.

 

[Chase Stuart]

Like Joe, this movie escaped me for a long time. I agree the dialogue was really good, but I actually laughed only once the entire movie (during the ashes scene). A much different comedy than like a Superbad. But I think it's a good movie that holds up well on repeated viewings and makes you think, but not sure it's ever really laugh out loud funny.

 

[Aaron Rudnicki]

I laugh out loud through the entire movie

 

[Andy Dufresne]

Like Raising Arizona, it's a Cohen brothers movie that's more fun to talk about and quote afterwards than it is to actually watch.

Not a big fan.

 

[[icon]]

I still laugh so hard I pee a little every time I watch this movie.