“Sometimes there’s a man,”…or two for that matter. Joel and Ethan Coen, a package deal, are two of the best movie directors of all time, and they are pioneers of new, innovative styles of film as well as revivors of timeless settings and plots. Defined by southern and midwestern settings, desperate criminals in search of wealth, a trademark blend of darkness and comedy, and articulately bumbling dialogue, Coen masterpieces have now been in the making for over thirty years. Some of their best films include plot-heavy westerns in No Country For Old Men and Fargo, outrageous “down-and-dirty” comedies in Raising Arizona and O Brother Where Art Thou, and nostalgic takes on styles and works of the past in Miller’s Crossing and True Grit. However, the Coens’ masterpiece, and perhaps the film that deviates the most from their typical settings, is The Big Lebowski. This movie, though not received notably well at the time of its release, has grown to become a cinema classic, even inspiring a religion in its ascension. This film is truly the Coens’ best work, and it evokes memories and unifies people in a shared relishment like no other movie has ever done. The Big Lebowski has been solidified as a cinematic treasure and perhaps the funniest film ever made in its unmatched, masterful crafting of relatable and hilarious dialogue, and in its deft characterization of one of cinema’s all-time great protagonists in the Dude.
The dialogue of Lebowski is the glue that holds the film together, and, to the great surprise of many, it was not ad-libbed at all. This is because the Coens, in fact, employ a strict “stick to the script” policy for all their films, and thus, each and every movie they release plays out just as they wrote it. This is almost unfathomable in the context of Lebowski, as the ocean of stutters, “um’s”, witty syntaxical pairings, and, of course, “f-words” incline viewers to believe that least some lines had to be tweaked in the heat of the moment. However, these viewers would be mistaken. This is truly remarkable, as the Coens are able to capture exactly how real people talk, or at least how these kind of people talk. It is clear that the Coens are amazingly skilled writers who are able to capture the very essence of humanity in its most bumbling and emotional. As great as they are, however, it is evident that all of the phrases and conversations they write can not accumulate solely from their minds. This inclines me to believe that a great deal of research goes into the Coens’ development of dialogue, particularly in Lebowski. Perhaps the brothers read volumes of texts detailing speech patterns and colloquialisms prevalent in southern California, where the film takes place. Or perhaps the directors gained their insights simply by travelling to Los Angeles and “listening around.” However they did it, the brothers craft lines and interactions that arouse paradoxical feelings among their viewers that they have witnessed conversations just like these while also being swept up in a brand new and outrageously funny way of communicating. The dialogue of Lebowski is vastly different from many other films in that it doesn’t depict its characters as speaking elegantly and skillfully. This type of dialogue is very common and effective, and a unique, “simple but sophisticated” version of this skillful speech can be observed in the films of esteemed writer-director Quentin Tarantino. I call Tarantino’s dialogue “wish-I-would-have-said-that” talk, because everything his characters say, even if it’s concerning the simplest of topics, is said in such a cool and skillful manner and is something we normal people can only ever dream of being able to come up with. In Lebowski, the Coens go for the exact opposite, but generate an even better effect than does the “cool-kat” dialogue of Tarantino. The Coen’s have their characters talk like normal people, and perhaps even like bums, as the main characters are, indeed, deadbeats. Throughout the film, our protagonists argue and fail to come to resolutions, lose their train of thought, repeat themselves, and articulate their outrageous plans in sentences full of stutters and incomplete clauses. This unique and skillful relation of speaking serves not only as a hilarious outlet on which to build on the comedic plot we are watching unfold, but it also allows the audience, as normal people, to relate to the characters in a way no other film does.
Now onto the aspect of Lebowski that truly solidifies it as an all-time great: the Dude. The Dude is a post modern hippie clinging to the remnants of the “hitchhiker” era of the 60s in southern California. He lives a simple life and has simple tastes. Living in a small apartment in Los Angeles, he enjoys bowling, smoking his joints, and drinking white russians. The Dude is not greedy or in search of great success like the bustling city around him; rather, he is simply at peace with the world…that is until his rug is soiled by two petty gangsters who mistake him for a millionaire that shares his name. The rug “really tied the room together”, as the Dude insists, and on the advice of his fiery Vietnam-vet bowling buddy, Walter Sobchak, he attempts to get this rich Lebowski to compensate him for the rug. This sets off a chain of events in which the Dude is yanked out of his element and gets all mixed up in a kidnapping scandal that has him eluding the wrath of German “kidnappers”, porn-filmmakers, and the millionaire Lebowski himself. The context the typically peaceful and easy-going Dude finds himself in makes for hilarious bursts of anger, bumbling ploys at getting out of trouble, quotes for the ages, and the construction of a character the cinematic world will never forget. The Dude’s nonchalant means of handling his troubles coupled with the discrepancies and incohesive plan-making he practices with his bowling buddies yield situation after situation of misfortune, revelation, odd dream sequences, and slapstick humor. The audience grows to love the Dude (although they can’t help but laugh at his misfortunes), and the ending that sees our main character being restored to his natural habitat of existence and serenity make for an audience satisfaction that comes around once in a blue moon.
The Coen Brothers wrote and directed many fantastic films throughout their three-decade stint, but The Big Lebowski is undoubtedly their masterpiece and could very well be the funniest movie ever. The thoroughly-researched and roaringly funny dialogue makes for an aura of relatability and memorability that is unique to Lebowski. The peaceful and lovable characterization of the Dude and the unfamiliar world into which he is tossed make for one of the funniest and most memorable protagonist performances to date. The Big Lebowski, though a rare work of art, is a prime example of how remarkably simple elements of storytelling and characterization can be pieced together in a kind of “universal language” to create mediums people will remember forever.