The Big Lebowski
Starring: Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Julianne Moore, Steve Buscemi Directors: Joel and Ethan Coen
The film: No one really knew what to do with this - the Coen brothers' seventh feature - when it was released in 1998. Most certainly the studio heads didn't, throwing it to the wolves with a release near enough to the Oscars to ensure it went largely ignored in the face of that year's blockbusters. That the film only made US$17 million on domestic release - after costing US$15 million to make - suggests they were right, initially at least.
But The Big Lebowski is one of cinema history's great sleepers. Those who did see it soon spread the word - and the film's cult status was ensured once its initial DVD release alerted the world to its many charms.
Fresh from the Oscar smash Fargo (1996), Ethan and Joel Coen did what they normally do: they looked for a new way to package a familiar product. So, like the majority of their films, The Big Lebowski is a shaggy dog of a story involving people trying to make an easy earn.
And it's not so much the story here but the players. Jeff Bridges enters the pantheon with his turn as slacker Jeffrey 'The Dude' Lebowski, who gets caught up in a case of mistaken identity. The Coens delight in allowing their yarn to weave its way all over the place, as The Dude and his cohorts - the nutty 'Nam veteran John Goodman and his confused mate Steve Buscemi - hatch a doomed plot to lift some cash from a rich old man.
