The 2011 draft is safely in my rearview mirror; you can read my team-by-team recaps for day two, separated into the American League and the National League. I also wrote a recap of day one on Monday covering ten teams who did well or made me scratch my head.
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I finally rectified a major hole in my movie-viewing history by seeing The Big Lebowski. (It’s also the first movie I’ve watched on the new iPad, and, well, f-yeah-movies-on-the-iPad and all that.) So how exactly do you write about a movie that 90% of your audience – conservatively speaking – has already seen, many of them more than once? I’m guessing I’ll say nothing that hasn’t been written before about the film, so please forgive any unoriginal thoughts that slip in here.
There’s no real reason that I never watched the film; I liked Fargo despite its brutality, and might be one of the few people on earth who liked The Hudsucker Proxy (too saccharine for Coen brothers fans?). I like quirky comedies and dark comedies and films with great characters. I just never got around to this one when I was watching movies more regularly in the early 2000s, then my daughter was born and I ended up in a job that often has me watching baseball games at night rather than films or TV, and now I look up and realize many of my readers/followers have been speaking a dialect I didn’t understand. At least I finally get the title of Matthew Leach’s blog (which, by the way, got the biggest laugh out of me of any line in the film).
My favorite aspect of The Big Lebowski was its connection to the hard-boiled detective stories I love, even though The Dude isn’t actually a detective by trade. He’s intricately involved in the crime, which itself involves at least one con (I don’t want to ruin it for the four of you who haven’t seen the film), and ends up threatened by multiple elements, a standard of Philip Marlowe novels. The motives of everyone else involved are generally unclear. There’s a lot of drinking, although the Dude’s drink of choice seemed a little more soft- than hard-boiled, and a lot of petty violence like whacks on the head. He spends a good chunk of the story suspecting the wrong people. The familiar story arc made the movie much more enjoyable for me and I could concentrate on the witty dialogue*, from “obviously, you’re not a golfer” to “he fixes the cable” to “thank you, Donny” to “I’m just gonna go find a cash machine.” And John Turturro … well, now this makes a little more sense, too**.
* Did anyone else think Tara Reid’s one significant line was delivered a little too, um, naturally?
** I was convinced that Turturro’s character would somehow figure more prominently in the main plot. The fact that he is pure comic relief turned out to be even better.
About the only criticism I could offer is that there was no question how the scene with the new red car was going to end. Maybe that’s the point – you’re supposed to cringe and laugh simultaneously as you watch the metaphorical trains collide – but for a movie with so much obvious attention to detail, like The Dude’s obsession with making sure the half-and-half is fresh, the car seemed a little like a cheap laugh. It’s not like we didn’t already know Walter had a temper to match his exceptionally bad judgment.
That’s sort of like saying that Troy Tulowitzki should steal more bases, though. Julianne Moore was phenomenal. The nihilists (and the nod to Kraftwerk) were hilarious in their mannerisms and their incompetence, and I loved the cameos by Flea and Aimee Mann. (Pretty good German accent from her, by the way.) I can see why it’s such a cult hit and hang my head in shame for not watching it sooner. Anyway, tell me what else I missed about this film’s greatness while I figure out what to watch on my next flight.
Dude, nice marmot.
I stumbled into it randomly on cable 10 years ago, well after it was in theaters, and I pick something different up from the movie upon each viewing – and I’m definitely a re-watcher when possible. Never too late to jump on the bandwagon – I’m sure we all have those “I can’t believe you haven’t seen Movie X” classics.
Next flight… Watch it again? It’s my favorite movie, but I appreciated it more in subsequent viewings. Next movie, not for plane viewing, Enter The Void.
On the bright side, the car scene does provide for some of the most entertaining cable TV re-dubs one might ever hope for. “This is what you get when you FIND a STRANGER in the ALPS!” is a personal favorite.
I know I’m about to commit sacrilege, but I don’t get the big deal over this. Now, admittedly, I watched it with my wife who doesn’t like this kind of movie, so that may have effected my reaction…..but it was a nice movie, nothing more. Keith, also going to add that I love your chats on ESPN. Thanks for your great work. Oh, and your game write ups here are excellent.
Now that you’ve seen TBL, I am duty-bound to recommend “Two Gentlemen of Lebowski,” a Shakespearean retelling of the story. It went viral on the web a few years ago, and its author, Adam Bertocci, managed to get a book deal out of it.
http://www.amazon.com/Two-Gentlemen-Lebowski-Excellent-Tragical/dp/1451605811/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1307581833&sr=8-1
The new red car is not the issue here, Keith.
Don’t know if it’s great for you, but I loved how it was set against the background of the first gulf war. Watching it in Kuwait in ’03 during the buildup for the invasion of Iraq added an extra element of eeriness/ absurdity
From Wikipedia:
The character of Jesus Quintana was inspired, in part, by a performance the Coens had seen John Turturro give in 1988 at the Public Theater in a play called Mi Puta Vida in which he played a pederast-type character, “so we thought, let’s make Turturro a pederast. It’ll be something he can really run with”, Joel said in an interview.
I remember hearing this a little differently–that a long time ago they saw him play a hispanic guy and thought it was so hilarious that they wanted to write a part for him to do it again.
No idea if that is true, etc., but it always makes me smile.
Well, at least you caught that it was Aimee Mann… It took me at least five viewings to notice that.
You saw it once – now do yourself a REAL favor and watch it another 10-20 times. Feed the monkey…
@Mike Wants Wins – Yes, watch it again. And again. It does skew male, generally, and my wife appreciates it about as much as I appreciate Oprah.
Then you may like this Detroit Tigers season preview.
http://detroit.sbnation.com/detroit-tigers/2011/3/29/2075252/the-dude-brings-you-the-2011-detroit-tigers-season-preview-man
Big Lebowski was a huge hit when I was in college…are there any other late 90’s-00’s “college student cult classics” you haven’t seen? I’d include titles like The Royal Tenenbaums, Napoleon Dynamite, SuperTroopers, High Fidelity, Office Space, Rounders, Swingers, Office Space, and Zoolander. All classics in their own right. Like Lebowski, at least half of those films introduced vernacular that guys my age use to this day.
Oops – mentioned Office Space twice. Not because it’s so good it deserved it. It was an accident.
you mean tara reid’s singing along to ‘viva las vegas’ didn’t move you?
(i know that isn’t what you meant)
“Three thousand years of beautiful tradition, from Moses to Sandy Koufax… “
Klaw, you done good, but the true beauty of any cult movie, is that you’ll find at least a couple new chuckles EVERY SINGLE COTTON PICKING TIME you watch it. You’ve just banked 18 mos. or so of belly-laughs ON DEMAND. ENJOY!
I cannot hear any of their songs without saying or thinking, “I’ve had a rough night and I hate the f***ing Eagles, man.”
my favorite part is when they spread the ashes and they all blow back into their faces. not only was it just downright hilarious to begin with. but i find it even more amusing for the sheer fact that movies tend to portray the ‘ideal scenario’ intentionally or unintentionally. but this is something that could actually happen that you just would never think of. cracks me up every time…
The golfer line might be my favorite as well.
First Saturday every December, the independent theater up the street from me shows it twice, at 9 and midnight. People come dressed in character, mostly as Walter and the Jesus. Great times.
One thing you didn’t touch on that I absolutely love is the way that the movie has its own internal memes. One person says a phrase and, soon after, another character will say it in a different context. A great example is when The Dude is in the checkout line in the first scene, he sees H. W. Bush say “this aggression will not stand” and then promptly uses that exact wording when describing the situation with his rug to Walter and Donnie. There are tons of examples throughout the film.
The only other thing you “missed” were mentions of some of the ridiculous attention to detail. These probably aren’t worth recounting one by one and you definitely touched on the overall point. Still, one favorite example is how in the scene when the Dude is listening to Dylan and then gets knocked out by one of Maude’s goons when they steal the rug back, he wakes up to the sound of bowling. If you look, there is actually a moment when you can see the label on the tape and one side says “Dylan” and the other side has a date and a location signifying that The Dude owns and listens to a bootleg of the audio from a bowling tournament!
“Ulli doesn’t care about anything. He’s a Nihilist.”
“Ah. Must be exhausting.”
Make sure to watch it again in a few months. I wouldn’t say I’m a cult follower, but it is truly the one movie I can say gets better every time I’ve watched. Each time you see new details, dialogue or jokes that you didn’t appreciate before.
I hated it the first time that I saw it. Now it’s my favorite film.
I keep telling myself that I’m gonna dress up as dream sequence Dude for Halloween one of these years. Or, ya know, just as a kick around the house.
I’m generally not a huge fan of John Goodman, but he kills it in Lebowski.
“you’re out of your element” has been a favorite retort for anyone pretending to know what they are talking about when clearly they don’t. Walter is an absolute classic character. Shomer shabas! Or whatever reason he can’t role on saturday
“He treats objects like women, man.” I find more people miss this line than any other.
I guess I’m in the minority in that I thought TBL was just average Coen Bros fare. Like you, I actually think Hudsucker Proxy is brilliant and by far the most underrated (especially when you realize it’s a perfect mesh of His Girl Friday mixed with a George Kaufman play). Also thought Fargo, Raising Arizona, Blood Simple were heads and shoulders above TBL.
I must admit that I’ve only seen it once and based on the comments, it sounds like I should see it again to see if it improves over multiple viewing.
You are definitely not the only one who loves the Hudsucker Proxy, Keith … it’s one of my favorites.
You know, for kids.
I’m going to take to take schwartzlaw’s ball and run with it. My favorite thread in the movie is Lebowski as pinball, and the way that pinball snowballs (gutterballs?) as he accumulates a vocabulary of phrase-opinions from friends, special lady friends, and newsy bits. The way his environment informs his decisions, and his plucky, satire-innocent foibles, make this flick very re-watchable. #apologyforusingundergradwritingformula
I’m shooting from the hip, here: I get your point about the red car scene, but I think the Coen formula (which is awesome) usually includes some sort of emotional/tone reset button. That kind of organ interlude in a movie feels, I dunno, nostalgic and home-y? I’d get all pretentious and mention the Kieslowski trilogy, but… I already did.
The red car thing just helped me recall another level of density in this movie: transportation troubles. Red car smash! Tara Reid’s eff-it car crash, L’s car crash and efforts to recover, and the limo/taxi stuff.
Not sure if I’m captain obvious being obvious, but I like this movie for the attention to detail, while still maintaining humor, at the major-league level #blylevened
Nice draft coverage. This is our concern, dude.
Get some shut-eye.
If you will it dude, it is no dream.
Walter has all of the best lines: “Say what you will about the tenets of national socialism, dude, at least it’s an ethos.”
Happy to say I’m enjoying the comments here as much as Keith’s post – which may or may not be the point, but I’ll take as a tribute to the film.
Christopher Nolan is the best movie-maker in the business right now. The earlier stuff (Memento, The Prestige) over the newer stuff (reviitalized Batman series, Inception)
Great article in Rolling Stone a few years ago about the 10th anniversary of TBL. Recommended reading for all fans awesome interview with jeff bridges prior to winning the Oscar saying he was fine with TBL being his most memorable role.
No mention for Sam Elliot?
How’d you like the scene much later on at the theatre for his landlord’s performance? Remember:
“Dude, I got that venue I wanted. I’m performing my dance quintet, you know, my cycle, at at Crane Jackson’s Fountain Street Theater on Tuesday night…”
It took me a couple watchings to truly appreciate the humor of the whole scene. @CharlesGreenly – let me know what you thought! The dude abides.
To piggyback on the two comments that noted the internal memes and the Dude’s picking up phrases and affectations from his environment, I’d like to point out it goes deeper than that. The Dude never actually does any detective work himself until the end. All the progress made in the case is made by others approaching Dude either to intimidate him or scam him. His running theory is nearly always the last thing he hears. It is really only once the case has solved itself that he is able to put it together. It is actually like one of the hard boiled detective stories flipped on its head. I love it for that reason.
When I was in prep school in the late 90s I recall seeing it at a small theater. I then recall purchasing it as the first DVD I ever bought when my younger brother got a DVD player as soon as it came out. I think my friends and I watched it in prep school at least 100-150 times. Once I reached college I realized that the movie had emerged in other communities in much the same way (I think because it came out after the great critical and economic success of Fargo, and thus got a lot of interested eyes when it came to home sales).
Love it, and I named about a dozen bowling teams after it, too — the Logjammers, Occasional Acid Flashback, Brandt Can’t Watch. The book about the festivals is filled with great behind-the-scenes stories from basically everyone that was in it, it’s called “I’m a Lebowski, You’re a Lebowski.”
Keep diving down the Coen Bros rabbit hole. Miller’s Crossing is brilliant.
I think you are also underestimating how many people really enjoy Hudsucker.
Thank you, Keith. I’ve loved this film since college and I love your criticism, so having the second validate the first is a good thing.
“Phone’s ringing, Dude.”
Keith, shut the f*** up, you’re out of your element here.
I’m still shocked by how much people love this movie. Watched it twice and the second time was worse than the first. Big Hudsucker fan though, “Would an imbecile come up with this?” O
A great movie, and strongly in the Coen Brothers theme of an ordinary person who, thrust into extraordinary circumstances, must confront the larger forces that surround and influence them.
I don’t think it’s possible to watch this movie too many times.
Klaw, if you like quirky movies, and you love hard boiled detective stories, have you seen Altman’s The Long Goodbye? It either infuriates or delights fans of the genre.
How about Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang. Got a bit actiony towards the end, but overall a good quirky detective flic.
Keith, glad you finally watched…it’s the only DVD that I own. The ashes blown back on face, and their non-plussed reactions to it, is hilarious…a fitting end of the movie..
Keith, love the work without walls… keep it up…
Hadn’t thought about the detective story angle, even though I have seen the film many times and enjoy the genre… another link to that would be the bumbling / corrupt cops. The policeman at the impound lot (“Leads!”), and the Malibu Sheriff (“Stay outta Malibu, deadbeat!”).
And I will echo everyone above on the multiple viewings… its simply an amazing film that improves over time. Look at the date on the check that the Dude writes while buying the half and half at the supermarket at the beginning of the film (while watching GHWB’s “this aggression will not stand” speech).
Literally the Greatest Film Ever Made.
Maude Lebowski: Do you like sex, Mr. Lebowski?
The Dude: ‘Scuse me?
Maude Lebowski: Sex. The physical act of love. Coitus. Do you like it?
The Dude: I was talking about my rug.
Maude Lebowski: You’re not interested in sex?
The Dude: You mean coitus?
Being one of those who have viewed this movie, ahem, “more than once” my favorite part has become the scene after the Dude’s car is attacked by the owner of the red sports car. They are driving down the road, the windshield is broken out and they are all eating In & Out burgers which is something they had planned on doing to celebrate recovering the money. Just imagining the conversation where they decided to still go to In & Out gets me every time.
“You want a toe dude? I’ll get you a toe by 4 o’clock…….f**king amateurs!”