TF Issue 188: Is it just me? The Big Lebowski...

[Lizhawkins]

On page 161 of TF issue 188, Emma Dibdin asks:

"Is it just me... or is The Big Lebowski not that big a deal?"



Here are a few excerpts:

Despite an initially lukewarm reception in some quarters, the Coens’ seventh outing has become a cinematic sacred cow. It even has its own festival. Admitting that you don’t like The Big Lebowski in a roomful of film fans has roughly the same impact as admitting you vote BNP or occasionally torture kittens. There’s undeniably plenty to love – just about everything in the bowling alley is quotable gold – but the viewing experience is a curiously empty one.

Part of the reason is how episodic it all feels. The relatively tight first 30 minutes gives way to a series of over-indulged, ill-connected sequences that have as much potential to infuriate as to entertain. The number of characters and plot points that go nowhere can be explained by the Raymond Chandler model that’s being riffed on, but the sense that each scene is happening in a vacuum has nothing to do with noir. By the time the Dude’s second dream sequence rolls around in the form of surreal, visually arresting bowling/ porno parody Gutterballs, you’re struck by the overwhelming sense that this isn’t narrative, but sketch comedy.

There are glimpses of genius in Lebowski – everyone from Bridges and Goodman down to John Turturro does some of their best work, and it boasts lines that are deservedly some of the most quoted in cinema. But it’s too shambling, too overindulged, too undisciplined, to be named anywhere close to the Coens’ best. But as The Dude would say: “That’s just, like... your opinion, man.” So, is it just me?

Check out the full article in Issue 188 - on sale 24 November 2011.

Agree? Disagree? Have your say below - a selection will be printed in the next issue...

[Jeffbiscuits]

Surely the shambling lack of discipline is the whole point of the film. The Dude himself is a shambles. Undisciplined and indulgent in his favourite things in life. The film wouldn't have worked in the hands of a more technical director than the Coen brothers. The whimsical nature of the film is one of my main reasons for being able to return to it again and again and for it to give career defining roles to several actors so late in their acting careers indicates something great. I love it.

[Jonesy]

Aren't most of the best Coen films sketch comedy? And should such a thing detract from the greatness of a film? The Coens were surely as aware of the episodic set pieces as the Pythons were for Life of Brian.

[Kiba.]

Watching The Big Lebowski is a laidback, lazy experience rather than a fasten-your-seat belt one, it's like an afternoon in The Dude's life. It's a perfectly decent film and The Dude is a character as close to perfect as Homer Simpson. Is it a big deal? - depends on your taste. It certainly is a deal of note.

[dojj singh]

I may be the only person not to have seen the film, and not been bothered by it.

I'm not about to go and find it on Amazon and wait eagerly in anticipation for it to arrive and then watch it, eyes virtually glued and unblinking at the screen until it's finished, before posting up some mad rantings about how it wasn't as good as it could have been etc etc.

Maybe that's why I thought Donnie Darko was over-hyped like a Michael Jackson concert.

[Scruffy]

Originally Posted by dojj singh

I may be the only person not to have seen the film, and not been bothered by it.

The world is a big place, so I doubt it.

TBL is not as big a deal as its cult following makes out, but what cult film ever is?

[dojj singh]

Cult films should remain the preserve of the cultist, when they are opened up to the mainstream, everyone realises they are terrible and that only weirdo's found them "Fantastic!!!!" in the first place.

I mean, I watched Weird Science the other night. I wish I could have been more constructive that calling it "Possibly the worst rose tinted spectacle I've ever seen".

[olsquareeyes]

Lebowski has everything: quotable script, sly humour and larger-than-life characters. It is also the film the Coens will be remembered for and truly deserves its cult status. Sketchy? Maybe, but it's all relevant.

[dojj singh]

Got the mag yesterday, some folk have quotes in it

[Lizhawkins]

Congrats to jeffbiscuits, kiba, scruffy, dojj singh and olsquareeyes for getting your Big Lebowski comments in the mag! (See page 153 of issue 189 - subscribers copies go out on 15/12/11, issue goes on sale 22/12/11).