History Film / THEBIGLEBOWSKI

* AllGermansAreNazis: The Jewish [[spoiler:convert]] Walter automatically assumes that the Germans are Nazis and that nothing ever changes. When the Dude insists that they're nihilists, Walter notes that that would be worse, since "say what you want about the tenets of National Socialism, [[TheOneThingIDontHateAboutYou at least]] it's an ''ethos''." In the end, though, he calls one of the Nihilists an antisemite, so he apparently hasn't given up on the idea.

* TheFunInFuneral: "Goddammit, Walter! Everything's a fuckin' travesty with you, man! What was all that shit about [[UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar Vietnam]]?"

* RansomDrop: The Dude is tasked to drop the ransom money from a bridge into a river. But then things go sideways.

* AllGermansAreNazis: The Jewish [[spoiler: convert]] Walter automatically assumes that the Germans are Nazis and that nothing ever changes. When the Dude insists that they're nihilists, Walter notes that that would be worse, since "say what you want about the tenets of National Socialism, [[TheOneThingIDontHateAboutYou at least]] it's an ''ethos''." In the end, though, he calls one of the Nihilists an antisemite, so he apparently hasn't given up on the idea.

* AmbiguousSituation: [[spoiler: What The Big Lebowski's supposed role in the kidnapping ultimately amounts to. Although Dude's theory that Lebowski used Bunny's "kidnapping" as an excuse to embezzle money is very plausible, it's never outright confirmed by any of the related parties. The closest thing to any form of solid evidence is The Big Lebowski's reaction to Dude and Walter's accusation. He doesn't seem fazed nor does he even bother denying it, but instead simply counters with a "your word against mine" retort.]]

-->'''I don’t like your jerk-off''' name.\\
'''I don’t like your jerk-off''' face.\\

* BabiesEverAfter: "I happen to know that there's a Little Lebowski on the way." [[spoiler: Weirdly subverted, though, since Maude makes it clear that she wants nothing to do with the Dude after the child is born, and just wanted him to impregnate her so she wouldn't have to run into the father of her child everywhere she went]]. ItMakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext.

* BlackComedy: One of the blackest. Even [[spoiler: Walter's eulogy/funeral for Donny ends up being hilarious.]]

* BrickJoke: Walter and Donny praise the ln-N-Out Burger in North Hollywood where the Dude located the kid who stole his car. After the Dude's car gets trashed by an angry neighbor, we cut to the three heroes riding in the car with Walter and Donny eating burgers.

* CassandraTruth[=/=]TheCuckoolanderWasRight: [[spoiler: Walter speculates what really happened throughout the movie and is right almost every time. No one believes him.]] "Am I wrong?" [[spoiler: The only things he wasn't right about was when he thinks the Big Lebowski isn't disabled and throws him on the floor, and about Bunny [[FakedKidnapping kidnapping herself]], but that wasn't his idea anyway, and he was right that she was safe all along. And he was right that "that's not her toe, dude."]]

* ComicallyInappropriateFuneralUrn: One of the most famous examples of this trope, [[spoiler: the Dude and Walter can't afford (or maybe Walter just refuses to pay for) even the most modestly-priced receptacle from the mortuary for Donny's ashes, and the mortuary isn't interested in renting it out, so Walter just buys a tin of Folgers coffee to do the job]].

* CooldownHug: Walter gives one to the Dude to stem the Dude's fury after [[spoiler: Donny's ashes fly in his face.]]
* CulturalPosturing: Courtesy of Walter, who [[spoiler: was not raised Jewish, but converted to Judaism for his (now ex-) wife. According to most Jewish theologians, he is at least an ''ideological'' inheritor of the religion and its traditions, but the Dude is unconvinced.]]

* DeconstructiveParody: Of the FilmNoir genre and detective stories in general. The "detectives" are made up of a stoner, a 'Nam obsessed lunatic, and a random friend of theirs who is forcibly kept out of the plot. It's actually perfectly in line with most noir, though, that [[spoiler: solving the mystery doesn't bring the guilty parties to justice.]]

* DigitalDestruction: Universal's Blu-Ray release of the film has been subject to quite a bit of criticism due to its overuse of edge-enhancement and DNR (digital noise removal), which, while removing a lot of film grain, also removes much of the texture and detail from the movie. This was later fixed with the Ultra [=HD=] release of the film.

** Walter's first scene is conversing with the Dude about the first home invasion and spouting off various theories and odd phrases, showcasing his CloudCuckoolander personality.

* EvilPlan: [[spoiler:The titular Lebowski's]] machinations during the kidnapping; If the Dude [[spoiler: opened the case and saw that he was never handed the ransom money in the first place,]] his total lack of credibility ensures that he ends up [[spoiler: taking the heat for "botching" the exchange]].

* FingerInTheMail: The eponymous "Big" Jeffrey Lebowski is sent one of his wife's, Bunny, toes after a botched money exchange. [[spoiler: It's later revealed to not be his wife's toe, but rather, the female nihilist's.]]

** "You guys are dead in the water." [[spoiler: Where do Walter and the Dude take Donny's ashes?]]

* HeroOfAnotherStory: Da Fino. The ''real'' PrivateDetective who [[spoiler: follows The Dude under the assumption he's an investigator like him to return Bunny to her parents.]] The Dude only meets him face to face once.

** Jeffrey Lebowski goes off on a massive rant about how The Dude should get a job and make something of himself, and yet is only what he is because [[spoiler: he inherited his late wife's money]].

* {{Bowdlerise}}: On TV broadcasts. "Do you see what happens when you '''find''' a stranger in the '''Alps'''?" The TV broadcast version also might benefit from the heavy censorship in the scene where the cab driver throws the Dude out of his taxi and shouts, "Get out of my peaceful cab!" which coincides with the scene, the song being played, and also provides a little HypocriticalHumor.

* AluminumChristmasTrees: ''Series/{{Branded}}'' was a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Branded_(TV_series) very real]] show in the 1960s, but nowhere near as long-lived as Walter makes it out to be.

* AluminumChristmasTrees: ''Branded'' was a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Branded_(TV_series) very real]] show in the 1960s, but nowhere near as long-lived as Walter makes it out to be.

Creator/JeffBridges stars as a lazy and useless slacker named [[TheDanza Jeffrey]] Lebowski, who prefers to be known as "The Dude". One night, a pair of thugs break into his house, dunk him in the toilet, and pee on his rug, mistaking him for a local millionaire, also named Jeffrey Lebowski (David Huddleston, the eponymous "Big" Lebowski). Said millionaire, who denies compensation for the aforementioned rug, ends up recruiting the Dude to help in the negotiations for his kidnapped wife, Bunny (Tara Reid), and that's when the plot takes off.

** In fact, [[spoiler: virtually every single lead The Dude and Walt follow turns out to be a red herring.]]

* AshesToCrashes: Walter misjudges the wind, and ends up pouring out the ashes from an urn all over the Dude. The Dude appears to be calm at first, but it ultimately becomes a RantInducingSlight.

This being a Coen Brothers movie, though, the plot isn't what's important. The driving force of the movie is the bunch of various bizarre characters, almost all of whom seem to come from different movies. For more information about them, [[Characters/TheBigLebowski see here]].

* KarmaHoudini: Bunny, she is arguably the one responsible for setting the plot in motion and causing the majority of the Dude and several other characters troubles and she ends up getting away with it all without any indication that she either knows or cares.

* NiceMeanAndInbetween:

** Pornstar Asia Carrera has an uncredited cameo in the Logjammin' sequence.

* CassandraTruth[=/=]TheCuckoolanderWasRight: [[spoiler: Walter speculates what really happened throughout the movie and is right almost every time. No one believes him.]] "Am I wrong?" [[spoiler: The only things he wasn't right about was when he thinks the Big Lebowski isn't disabled and throws him on the floor and about Bunny [[FakedKidnapping kidnapping herself]], but that wasn't his idea anyway, and he was right that she was safe all along. And he was right that "that's not her toe, dude."]]

* ClusterFBomb: In total, there are 292 uses of the word fuck in the film. Lampshaded by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jRhgNp-fNc the Stranger]].

* ComicallyInappropriateFuneralUrn: One of the most famous examples of this trope, [[spoiler: the Dude and Walter don't have the means of buying the most modestly-priced receptacle from the mortuary for Donny's ashes, and the mortuary isn't interested in renting it out, so Walter just buys a tin of Folgers coffee to do the job]].

* {{Absurdism}}: One of the more triumphant modern-day examples, full of offbeat comedy and convoluted plot twists that turn out to signify nothing much in particular. The latter elements are one of several ideas cribbed from ''Literature/TheBigSleep'', which the film is named after and to which it serves as a very loose homage. The film also shares some other aspects of the movement, including quirky, [[RealisticDictionIsUnrealistic repetitive but still naturalistic dialogue]] and the portrayal of established institutions as empty and corrupt. The Dude himself can be and has been, held up as something of an AntiNihilist hero: lazy, unmotivated, and bound to no higher purpose, but still kind, loyal, and open to endless possibilities. There's also the random swerve into a musical...

* TwentyMinutesIntoThePast: The movie takes a period film approach to the events of the early nineties, with the Persian Gulf War building in the background, but was released just seven years after them.

** "She's not my special lady, she's my fucking lady friend!"

''The Big Lebowski'' is a CultClassic directed by Creator/TheCoenBrothers. [[GenreBusting It's a bit hard to]] [[DescribeTopicHere describe,]] but let's call it a FilmNoir parody. The film was released on March 6, 1998.

* AluminumChristmasTrees: ''Branded'' was a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Branded_(TV_series) very real]] show in the 1960's, but nowhere near as long-lived as Walter makes it out to be.

* AnAesop: Although it might seem to just be a random, absurdist farce, the movie ultimately reinforces a pretty clear message of "take it easy and don't sweat unnecessarily over things". Most of the trouble for the Dude kicks off when he forgoes his usual laid-back approach to things and swipes the Big Lebowski's rug in retribution for his own being soiled by the goons who were hunting down the Big Lebowski. He later lampshades this at a point where things have become particularly perilous for him, bemoaning that "I could just be sitting here with pee stains on my rug" instead of having to deal with all the chaos.

* AshFace: The Dude's face gets covered in ash after Walter ends up pouring out Donnie's ashes in the wrong direction.

** The car that Bunny drives has a license plate which reads "LAPIN", which is bunny in French.

* {{Bowdlerise}}: Only on TV broadcasts. "Do you see what happens when you '''find''' a stranger in the '''Alps'''?" The TV broadcast version also might benefit from the heavy censorship in the scene where the cab driver throws the Dude out of his taxi and shouts, "Get out of my peaceful cab!" which coincides with the scene, the song being played, and also provides a little HypocriticalHumor.

* BrickJoke: Walter and Donnie praise the ln-N-Out Burger in North Hollywood where the Dude located the kid who stole his car. After the Dude's car gets trashed by an angry neighbor, we cut to the three heroes riding in the car with Walter and Donnie eating burgers.

* ComicallyInappropriateFuneralUrn: One of the most famous example of this trope, [[spoiler: the Dude and Walter don't have the means of buying the most modestly-priced receptacle from the mortuary for Donny's ashes, and the mortuary isn't interested in renting it out, so Walter just buys a tin of Folgers coffee to do the job]].

* DudeWheresOurCar: The Dude's car is stolen (with the real ransom money briefcase still inside), prompting Donnie to ask: "Say, Dude, where ''is'' your car?" The title of the movie ''Film/DudeWheresMyCar'' was inspired by this movie.

* EstablishingSeriesMoment: The film opens with a dramatic shot of Los Angeles following a tumble weed to the tune of "Tumbling Tumbleweeds" by Roy Rogers & Sons of the Pioneers as Creator/SamElliott tries giving a dramatic, Western-style introduction to The Dude, only for him to lose his train of thought mid-sentence. This establishes the film's tone nicely, introducing a subverted genre film without a traditional narrative, a humble setting full of off-beat characters and a sarcastic sense of humor.

* FishOutOfWater: What makes the film so funny in the first place; the Dude is stuck in a Film Noir narrative with all the various interests around him (aside from Walter and Donnie) behaving accordingly.

** The Dude is a laid-back ageing hippy with no loyalty to anything but his own petty self-interest, and he prefers to talk his way out of every situation.

* ManlyTears: "Do my tears surprise you? Strong men also cry, Mr Lebowski. Strong men...also cry..." Possibly a subversion since you never see his tears [[spoiler: indicating that he either knows she kidnapped herself or that he actually doesn't care about her]].

* MisplacedRetribution: Twice in the same scene. Walter assumes the new Corvette in front of a house belongs to Larry, who Walter thinks stole the $1 million ([[spoiler:he didn't]]), so he smashes it with a crowbar. It turns out to belong to Larry's neighbour, who takes the crowbar and starts smashing The Dude's car, which The Dude quickly points out ''doesn't'' belong to Walter.

** Jeff Dowd ''is'' apparentlty the Dude in real life with the Seattle Seven, White Russian fixation, and general laid back stoner attitude.

* OddFriendship: The Dude is a laid-back stoner hippy, Walter is a boisterous, obnoxious and tightly wound Vietnam vet with huge anger management issues, and Donnie is an easy-going doormat.

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: At the end of the movie, you know that the mood is ''really'' low in the wake of [[spoiler: Donny's death]] when '''[[HairTriggerTemper Walter]]''' actually stops screaming about Vietnam for a minute and tenderly apologizes to The Dude for his behaviour.

* VandalismBackfire: Double whammy. Walter suspects a kid of stealing a million-dollar ransom from The Dude's car. When they arrive at his house, there's a new Corvette sitting out front, which more or less confirms their suspicions. After a brief interrogation, Walter decides that more severe measures are necessary and begins to smash the Corvette with a crowbar. Turns out it wasn't the kid's car, as the neighbour runs out screaming about his new Corvette. He decides to destroy Walter's car, which of course actually belongs to The Dude.

** The Dude thinks all the various threads he uncovers must figure into the big mystery at the centre of the plot. [[spoiler:[[RandomEventsPlot They don't.]]]]

* BearsAreBadNews: "Sometime you eat the b'ar, and sometimes, well... [[RussianReversal he eats YOU]]!"

* CutHisHeartOutWithASpoon: The Jesus' extremely flamboyant threat to our heroes: shoving Walter's pistol up his ass "until it goes ''click.'' YOU GOT A DATE WEDNESDAY, BABY!"

* ThePreciousPreciousCar: The Corvette they find during the attempt to extort the boy who stole The Dude's car. "I'd say he's still got about $960-$970,000 left, depending on the options."
-->My baby! I just bought that fucking car last week!

"My only hope is that the Big Lebowski will kill me before the Germans cut my dick off..."

* {{Bowdlerise}}: Only on TV broadcasts. "Do you see what happens when you '''find''' a stranger in the '''Alps'''?" The TV broadcast version also might benefit from the heavy censorship in the scene where the cab driver throws the Dude out of his taxi and shouts, "Get out of my peaceful cab!" which coincides with the scene, the song being played, and also provides a little HypocriticalHumor.

* FakeBand: Autobahn, the extremely obscure '70s synth-pop band that Uli and his nihilist friends were in, is loosely based on Music/{{Kraftwerk}} and takes its name from Kraftwerk's best-known album.

* FakinMacGuffin: "It's my dirty undies. Laundry, the ''whites''."

* RoyalWe: When The Dude is told to ComeAlone, he's forced to bring Walter with him. He then blows Walter's cover by using the pronoun "we". He tries to explain that he was using "the RoyalWe."

* ToiletSeatDivorce: Alluded to when one of Jackie Treehorn's thugs mentions Bunny to the Dude.
-->Do you see a ring on my finger? Does this place look like I'm fuckin' married? The toilet seat's up!

* TwentyMinutesIntoThePast: The movie takes a period film approach to the events of the early nineties, with the Persian Gulf War building in the background, but was released just seven years after them.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse:
** Bunny still owes Jackie Treehorn a pile of cash, but that's now a problem for her and the Big Lebowski to deal with.
** After Larry gets introduced, his family's maid just vanishes from the movie. She does not appear again even when Walter starts yelling and cussing at Larry, and then goes to wreck the car.
*** Larry himself disappears from the movie after that scene, though the Dude mentions him later to Jackie.

* WrongfullyAttributed: [[UsefulNotes/VladimirLenin Lenin]] and [[Music/JohnLennon Lennon]] quotes are out of your element, Donny.

* TheUnreveal: [[spoiler: Did Walter and The Dude make it to the Finals? The movie ends right before their game starts, so we never find out.]]
** Notably, it's unclear whether Smokey really ''was'' over the line.

** Unless The Dude told Maude about what really happened to the money, those kids at the charity never got it back.

** Comes full circle with the ScriptFic mentioned above.