This 1998 movie from the famous Coen Borthers (Blood Simple, Bartin Fink, Fargo, O Brother Where Art Thou and No Country For Old Men) has, in just a few years, already reached a cult status for an audience that appreciates anti heros and over the top characters in a comic and sometimes highly imaginitive setting.

The inexhaustably inspired Coen brothers have based this movie on a Raymond Chandler like detective story in which a contemporary, relaxed hippy (gorgeously performed by Jeff Bridges), who calls himself 'The Dude' (aka 'The big Lebowski'), gets entangled in a web of situations, related to a fake kidnap of a wealthy man's wife. Unfortunately this wealthy man is also called 'Lebowski'. Consequently, The Dude gets involved in the activities of a bunch of criminals who mistake him for his wealthy namesake. Attacked in his own house, The Dude witnesses one of the assaulting criminals peeing on his carpet. A carpet that, in his opinion, gives his interior just the perfect balance.

He decides to visit his wealthy namesake to reclaim a carpet, which becomes the trigger of his entanglement in the web of events that emerges, in which three parties claim a large amount of money from The Dude, who has, partly voluntary, been menoeuvred into the role of courier of the one million dollar ransom.

With his two bowling team members and friends, Walter Sobchak (John Goodman) - an obviously over the top and uncomplicated, law abiding Vietnam Vet' who may be considerd as The Dude's right hand and conscience - and Donny (Steve Buscemi), The Dude plans to keep the ransom, but he never succeeds in getting control of things nor become the actual owner of the money. Fortunately, his hallucinetic inspired, laid back approach provides him with just enough common or uncommon sense to deal with the various predicaments he finds himself in.

In the bowling center his nerves are wrecked by a hispanic dandy called 'Jesus' (John Turturro), who challenges The Dude's bowling team with his exceptional bowling capacities and his haughty, feminin attitude.

Throughout the chain of events, the audience is granted some funny and exciting views inside The Dude's head, when he falls victim to his drug inspired bowling and carpet hallucinations. These scenes have yet already become classic scenes.

At the end of the movie, the chain of events appears to have only one purpose, when the narrator of this story (a delibarately chosen cliché cowboy with a curious moustache) encourages the Dude to preserve his Dude-ish lifestyle. Therefore this movie may be considered as an ode to a laidback attitude to life in general.

This mainly positive and light-hearted movie is dressed up with a nice soundtrack and contains some visually creative scenes, especially when related to The Dude's hallucinations. The main characters are accurately defined and amazingly performed by the cast.

I would recommend this comedy especially to an audience that appreciates comedies of some higher level than flat comedies like, for instance, 'The naked gun'. However, I have to admit that this movie hasn't fully succeeded in fulfilling my high expectations. I'm not convinced, but still satisfied....