The Big Lebowski - 10th Anniversary Edition

`The Big Lebowski' has been hailed as one of the greatest cult classic films of our time, and I just might have to agree. The Coen brothers rarely disappoint (honestly, `Intolerable Cruelty' was a mess but aside from that they usually strike gold) and `The Big Lebowski', while not their smartest film, may be one of their most entertaining. In all honesty, `Fargo' is a better film, but nothing in `Fargo' can match the brilliance that is Jeff Bridges as the iconic `Dude'.

So, `The Big Lebowski' centers around two men with the same name. There is Jeffrey `The Dude' Lebowsky; a pot-smoking, White Russian drinking, unemployed slacker, and then there is Jeffrey `The Big' Lebowski, a handicapped multi-millionaire with a trophy wife named Bunny who has gotten herself in debt with some very dangerous men. Those men, attempting to get their money, come after `The Dude', mistaking him for Bunny's husband. Thus starts the tumble that is the Dude's involvement in a kidnapping scheme that pits him against some very strange (and albeit hilarious) people. Teamed with his bowling buddies Walter and Donny, not to mention Lebowski's (the `Big' man) estranged daughter Maude, the Dude attempts to make some quick cash by playing as the go between for Lebowski and his wife's kidnappers.

The plot is simple and doesn't work too hard to embellish itself, but the brilliant script work and the flawless acting help make for some of the funniest moments and most memorable dialog in recent memory. John Goodman really works well with the Coen brothers. His performance in `Barton Fink' is seriously one of my favorite supporting performances of all time, and here in `The Big Lebowski' he dominates as the Dude's best buddy Walter. Buscemi (who is also a perennial Coen star) doesn't have as much to do as he did in `Fargo' but he makes the most of it. Philip Seymour Hoffman is hilarious as Brandt; his facial expressions in the limo with the two Lebowski's is one of my favorite scenes in the film. Tara Reid plays a variation of herself as Bunny, and Peter Storemare is hilarious as the Nihilist member of the techno pop band `Autobahn'. The character of `The Big' Lebowski is a tad clichéd, but David Huddleston is hilarious enough to make up for that. Julianne Moore is fantastic, and I mean that, as Maude. I seriously am starting to change my opinion of this actress. She has been lauded over and over and seriously up until this past week I didn't understand why, but her performance here (and more notable in `Short Cuts') is starting to change my mind. Everything about her character play here is hilariously on point.

But nothing compares to `The Dude'...nothing. Jeff Bridges is in all honesty one of my favorite actors; he may even break top ten for me. He just always sells it, even when he's not mind-blowing he has that consistency about his work to where it is always solid. His performance here is not only solid, but it is mind-blowing. Comedic-wise he just devours this film, becoming this character from this inside out. He beautifully builds layers of apathy within a character that is deeper than his roots, but most importantly he understands the dialog and `how' his character would sell that dialog, and he soars.

`The Big Lebowski' can be labeled another Coen triumph, to rest on the shelf along with `Fargo' and the more recent `No Country for Old Men' as iconic cinematic experiences that one shall not soon forget.

i did not realize it was an HD DVD and the disk will not play in my regular dvd player - i was incredibly disappointed.

HOW LAME

great movie but i already own it. wow i can get a fake bowling ball which is worthless. now, had they released in it blue ray than i would buy this. this is just like a remaster. lets see how many times we can get these dummies to buy the same movie over and over again.

without blue ray being offered i would call this a sirius failure

I don't know why people keep referring to the coasters and the towel. This Limited Edition comes in an awesome, very original, bowling ball!!! I would buy it just for the package. I can't believe how cheap it's selling for!!!! I'm super excited to add it to my DVD shelf!

Susan Sarandon has her "Rocky Horror Picture Show" performance to forever contend with, and Jeff Bridges is stuck with this.

Yes Jeff, it was tragic when they killed off your character at the end of "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot" but *this* is the one that's going into the time-capsule. Get used to the idea... ;]