The Big Lebowski

From the directors studied in class the one's that I wanted to continue study on, was the Coen Brothers. I enjoyed their unit a lot during class and couldn't wait to see more. So I rented The Big Lebowski. The Big Lebowski was a very interesting, sometimes confusing, tale of a man with the same last name.  "The Dude" as he likes to be called, finds himself being forced to dunk his head into a toilet and trying to stop another man from urination on his rug. When he asks the men to stop they just say "Where's the money Lebowski?". Extremely confused, "The Dude" decides to do some investigating so he can have his now dirty rug replaced. This is where the story really begins to get interesting. 

Before watching this film, I already knew that it had a very big following from my generation and a few years above, but I had no idea that even critics enjoyed it so much. I agree with critic James Berardinelli from ReelViews when he says "The Big Lebowski is a mess. But what a glorious, wonderfully-entertaining mess it is." 

After watching The Big Lebowski and thinking about the Coen Brothers as a whole, I realized how much more their movies have in common than I thought. I think their casting is great, although Raising Arizona and The Big Lebowski have strengthened my dislike for John Goodman. I think Raising Arizona is the best performance I've ever seen out of Nicholas Cage, which I can also say for Steve Buscemi in Fargo and Jeff Bridges as "The Dude". 

I heard that the Coen's are in process of making a movie in St. Louis Park about a Jewish family. I think it sounds interesting, and I'm hoping that after making the masterpeice of "No Country for Old Men" they will still have something left in em'!