Big Lebowski Limited Edition (Blu-ray + Digital Copy) (1998)

Editor's Note The Coen brothers have done it again. Mixing in Leninist philosophy, mistaken identity, crazy characters, a kidnapping plot, and a deep love of bowling, they have unleashed upon an unsuspecting world the many glories of THE BIG LEBOWSKI. Jeff Bridges plays Jeff Lebowski, known as the Dude, a laid-back, easygoing burnout who happens to have the same name as a millionaire whose wife owes a lot of dangerous people a whole bunch of money--resulting in the Dude having his rug soiled, sending him spiraling into the Los Angeles underworld. The film is beautiful to look at, especially the scenes in the bowling alley, which feature a vast array of bizarre characters--including Steve Buscemi, John Turturro, Sam Elliott, and the movie-stealing, riotously funny John Goodman as the Dude's crazy best buddy. As usual in Coen brothers films (BARTON FINK, RAISING ARIZONA), the dialogue is hysterically warped; the plot is confusing, complicated, and kinetic; the soundtrack is virtually another character; and the acting is weirdly stellar. THE BIG LEBOWSKI is yet another thoroughly entertaining foray into the strange and fascinating world ruled by Joel and Ethan Coen.

	Ben Gazzara
	Mark Pellegrino
	Jeff Bridges
	Aimee Mann
	Philip Moon
	Philip Seymour Hoffman
	John Goodman
	Julianne Moore
	Steve Buscemi
	Jack Kehler
	Torsten Voges
	Jimmie Dale Gilmore
	David Huddleston
	Flea
	John Turturro
	Tara Reid
	Jerry Haleva
	Peter Stormare
	David Thewlis
	Asia Carrera
	Joel Coen - Screenwriter
	Ethan Coen - Producer
	Rick Heinrichs - Production Designer
	Tim Bevan - Producer
	Mary Zophres - Costume Designer
	Tricia Cooke - Editor
	Roger Deakins - Director of Photography
	Carter Burwell - Composer
	Eric Fellner - Producer
	Sam Elliott - Narrator
	Ethan Coen - Screenwriter
	Joel Coen - Director

When hired goons mistake oafish, amiable bowling enthusiast Jeff "the Dude" Lebowski for their proper shakedown, eccentric millionaire the Big Lebowski, their error sets into motion a wacky chain of events that pull the Dude into a hilariously twisted mystery. The film is a high-key, fanciful farce with the same runaway-train comic sensibility as the Coens' RAISING ARIZONA--and a surreal musical number to boot.

"Nobody calls me Lebowski. You got the wrong guy. I'm the Dude, man."----The Dude (Jeff Bridges) to Treehorn's thug

"That rug really tied the room together, did it not?"----Walter (John Goodman) |"Freakin' a..."----The Dude

"I don't roll on Shabbos!"----Walter to Donny (Steve Buscemi), upon realizing he's scheduled to bowl on the Jewish Sabbath

"All the Dude ever wanted was his rug back."----The Dude to Jackie Treehorn (Ben Gazzara)

"You're entering a world of pain."----Walter to a child

"Are these the Nazis, Walter?"----Donny |"No, Donny, these men are Nihilists. Nothing to be afraid of."----Walter

"The Dude abides. I don't know about you, but I take comfort in that."----The Stranger (Sam Elliott)

Sight and Sound
"...The range of acting turns is rich....Best of all, in a memorably unctuous cameo, is Philip Seymour Hoffman...the best character-actor find in years..." 05/01/1998 p.38-42

USA Today
"...The Coen brothers, those far-out FARGO guys, cover everything with eye-popping panache..." 3 1/2 out of 4 Stars 04/03/1998 p.5E

New York Times
"...Mr. Bridges finds a role so fit for him that he seems never to have been anywhere else. Watch this performance to see shambling executed with nonchalant grace and a seemingly out-to-lunch character played with fine comic flair..." 03/06/1998 p.E31

Premiere
"...Joel and Ethan Coen have crafted another shrewdly ironic valentine to Americana with this hilarious tale..." 03/01/1998 p.17

Los Angeles Times
"...The Coens are able to create wickedly funny eccentrics and possess the ability to energize certain actors to inhabit them completely..." 03/06/1998 p.C1

Chicago Sun-Times
"...Genial....It's weirdly engaging, like its hero..." 03/06/1998 p.37

Entertainment Weekly
"...A masterpiece of anti-storytelling..." 05/23/2003 p.35

Rolling Stone
Ranked #7 in Rolling Stone's "Top 25 DVDs Of 2005' -- "[T]he prize in this Coen Brothers 1998 goodie is still Jeff Bridges..." 12/01/2005 p.92

Uncut
5 stars out of 5 -- "LEBOWSKI sees the Coens embark on a delirious joyride through the great Sin City itself, executing some audacious hair-pin turns through the conventions of noir along the way." 05/01/2006 p.148

Total Film
4 stars out of 5 -- "[W]hat makes the Coens' seventh film so inexhaustibly re-watchable is its oddball range of characters so gonzo, so heroically grotesque as to be the stuff of the greatest stoner-comic book never written." 06/01/2006 p.132

Wall Street Journal
"Joel and Ethan Coen's now-classic comedy is an absurdist neonoir film about mistaken identity....[A] big sweet teddy bear of an entertainment..." 12/24/2010