Classic 90s Movie: “The Big Lebowski”

May is Classic 90s Movie month. Today’s guest post comes from Jonathan Melikidse.

Movie Title: The Big Lebowski

Year: 1998

Writers: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen

Lead Actors: Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Julianne Moore, Steve Buscemi

Director: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen (uncredited)

IMDB Plot Summary: “Dude” Lebowski, mistaken for a millionaire Lebowski, seeks restitution for his ruined rug and enlists his bowling buddies to help get it.

Why I Think This Is A Classic 90s Movies: Sometimes there’s a film… I won’t say a movie, ’cause, what’s a movie? But sometimes, there’s a film. And I’m talkin’ about The Big Lebowski here. Sometimes, there’s a film, well, it’s the film for it’s time and place. It fits right in there. And that’s the The Big Lebowski… This film is about a man, being true to himself, despite the chaos that surrounds him. It’s also about Mistaken Identity. Not just with Jeff Lebowski, but with nearly every aspect of the film (more on that). This movie is a great representation of films of the nineties because of its humor, its social awareness and its connection with the morals in the Unites States at this time. Everyone was looking for their hand out, their golden ticket…accept for The Dude. He just wanted his rug back.

My Favorite Moment In The Movie: So tough to pick one, but I would give it to John Turturro’s intro scene as Jesus Quintana. Something about this just makes me crack up every time. But, more than that, there are a couple deeper things going on. First, the discussion between The Dude and his friends after sets up the next series of events in the film. Especially with The Dude telling Walter that he thinks the girl kidnapped herself. There is also another moment of Mistaken Identity when we find out that Quintana goes by the same pronunciation of his name “Jesus” as the Lord’s son, not the common pronunciation by most Mexican-Americans. Many people say that The Dude looks like Jesus so if you go off of that, we can say there is the theme of False Prophets. This can be further backed up by other biblical references in the film. I don’t know ow much was intentional, but I like to think the Coen Brothers think of everything.

My Favorite Dialogue In the Movie: Again tough to pick, but there are a couple here:

Blond Treehorn Thug: [holding up a bowling ball] What the fuck is this?
The Dude: Obviously you’re not a golfer.

The Dude: Walter, what is the point? Look, we all know who is at fault here, what the fuck are you talking about?
Walter Sobchak: Huh? No, what the fuck are you… I’m not… We’re talking about unchecked aggression here, dude.
Donny: What the fuck is he talking about?
The Dude: My rug.
Walter Sobchak: Forget it, Donny, you’re out of your element!
The Dude: Walter, the Chinaman who peed on my rug, I can’t go give him a bill, so what the fuck are you talking about?
Walter Sobchak: What the fuck are you talking about? The Chinaman is not the issue here, Dude. I’m talking about drawing a line in the sand, Dude. Across this line, you DO NOT… Also, Dude, Chinaman is not the preferred nomenclature. Asian-American, please.
The Dude: Walter, this isn’t a guy who built the railroads here. This is a guy…
Walter Sobchak: What the fuck are you…?
The Dude: Walter, he peed on my rug!
Donny: He peed on the Dude’s rug.
Walter Sobchak: Donny you’re out of your element! Dude, the Chinaman is not the issue here!

Key Things You Should Look For When Watching This Movie: Mistaken Identity is the constant gag that runs throughout the movie. From Walter calling the dog a Pomeranian, which it is not; to the toe from another woman; and obviously all the times The Dude is mistaken for another Lebowski. The list goes on and on. Also, every time someone calls The Dude by his birth given name he qualifies that he goes by the Dude. This is true until the mortuary scene when he and Walter introduce themselves. He begins to retract his real name and reintroduce himself as The Dude, but dismisses it. This is after Donny dies and at the peek of his growth as a man, being true to himself.

Thanks, Jonathan! To show our gratitude for your guest post, here’s a dash of creative juju for you. Whoosh!

We already have a set of 80s Movies. This month we cover 90s movies. So thanks to all of you for your participation in this project, creating a resource for writers, movies they should watch to help learn the craft of screenwriting!

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