Cult classic directed by The Coen Brothers in 1998. It's a bit hard to describe, but let's call it a Film Noir parody.Jeff Bridges stars as a lazy and useless slacker named 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 said 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.This being a Coen Brothers movie, though, the plot isn't what's important. The driving force of the movie is the various bizarre characters, almost all of whom seem to come from different movies, including:
Walter Sobchak (John Goodman), Dude's EXTREMELY temperamental bowling buddy. Manages to turn every single conversation into a shouting match involving the Vietnam War, and refuses to roll on Shabbos.
Donny (Steve Buscemi), Dude's timid and insecure other bowling buddy. Walter refuses to explain the plot to him.
Maude Lebowski (Julianne Moore), daughter of the Big Lebowski, and stepdaughter of Bunny. An eccentric, post-feminist lady whose artwork is commended as strongly vaginal, which she believes inherently bothers men. Classic Femme Fatale and overly aware of it.
Uli Kunkel, a.k.a. Karl Hungus (Peter Stormare), nihilist, porn star, techno-pop musician, and bad guy. He and his two henchmen/bandmates (one of whom is Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers) love to remind The Dude that they believe in nossink!
Jesus Quintana (John Turturro), rival bowler and pederast. An extraordinarily loathsome man, who serves literally no plot purpose and shows up for only two scenes, but is hilarious enough that he's one of the film's most memorable characters. Don't fuck with him.
The Stranger (Sam Elliott), an odd cowboy who narrates the film (if he isn't losing his train of thought), unaware that it isn't a western.
This film provides examples of:
Absurdly Ineffective Barricade: The Dude suffers multiple home invasions, and getting kinda sick of it, starts to nail a piece of wood to the floor and props a chair between it and the door. It is immediately revealed that the door opens outwardsinstead of inwards. And later in the film, he trips over it.
Detective Davino, the PI hired to find Bunny Lebowski and played by Jon Polito, expresses his admiration of The Dude's apparent playing one side against the other throughout the movie. In MillersCrossing, Jon Polito plays a mob boss who is victim to and absolutely hates a double-cross.
Walter's oft-repeated line "shut the fuck up Donny!" is precisely written because Buscemi's character wouldn't shut up in Fargo.
Affectionate Parody: The plot is sort of a meandering gonzo take on Raymond Chandler-style noir detective stories, in particular, The Big Sleep. The Coens have produced theirfairshare of straightforward examples of the genre, so it's definitely an affectionate one.
The Alleged Car: The Dude's Torino increasingly becomes this. It wasn't exactly a royal chariot to begin with, but over the course of the film it is stolen and trashed by a fifteen year old, used as a toilet, crashed by the Dude, beaten with a crowbar, and finally set on fire.
All Germans Are Nazis: The Jewish Walter automatically assumes that the Germans are Nazis. 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, 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.
Walter: Well, come on Donny, they were threatening castration!
Donny: Uh huh.
Walter: Are we gonna split hairs here? Am I wrong?
Dude: Man, they were nihilists, man. They kept saying they believe in nothing.
Walter: Nihilists? Fuck me. I mean, say what you want about the tenets of National Socialism, at least it's an ethos.
Angry Black Man: The taxi driver who kicks the Dude out of his cab for hating The Eagles. "Fuck you, man! You don't like my fucking music, get your own fucking cab!"
Jesus: You said it, man. Nobody fucks with the Jesus.
Antagonist Title: The protagonist is actually the Dude (although his surname is indeed Lebowski). The other one, the "Big" Lebowski, is one of several antagonists in the film.
Anti-Hero: The Dude in the classic sense, a lazy bumfuck only vaguely interested in this mystery thing who doesn't do anything heroic at all, and Walter, a violent, bumbling psychopath who screams at people for anything, ever.
Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Without the verbalization; after another home invasion where The Dude's johnson is threatened by a nihilist ferret (which the Dude mistakenly believes to be a marmot), Walter shows concern about possession of wildlife inside a city being illegal.
The Dude: What are you, a fucking park ranger now?
Artistic License - Gun Safety: Walter is a walking example of this trope, despite (supposedly) serving in Vietnam, and presumably having been trained in gun handling. Notable examples include threatening someone else with a gun (though arguably he isn't being reckless here so much as psychotic), and, in doing so, racking the slide with his finger on the trigger, which is likely to end poorly.
Ashes to Crashes: Walter misjudges the wind, and ends up pouring out the ashes of Donny all over the Dude.
A Simple Plan: "The best part of my plan is... its simplicity."
Babies Ever After: "I happen to know that there's a Little Lebowski on the way." 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. It Makes Just As Much Sense In Context.
Badass: Walter, especially where he nails a nihilist in the chest with a bowling bag full of bowling balls, one-hit punches another with a sword, and bites another's ear off.
Has elements of a deconstruction. Yes, Walter is a badass but his violent tendencies are a result from PTSD incurred in Nam. His friends seem to think he needs mental help.
Unlike the average badass, Walter winds up attacking a lot of the wrong targets. And when he finds out he's been smashing the wrong car, he quickly decides to run.
Badass Mustache: Sam Elliot pretty much is this trope. Not a badass character in this film, but those whiskers are mighty impressive.
Berserk Button: Plenty to go around. It's a Coen Brothers movie.
Walter flips right the fuck out when a bowling opponent steps over the line and refuses to acknowledge his error. Cross Walter on a rules violation, and you'll stare down the barrel of a gun.
You are entering a world of pain.
Walter takes his Judaism very seriously, even though he converted for his ex-wife. Getting him to break the laws of Shabbas will earn you an ear full.
Walter completely snaps when trying to intimidate a teenager he suspects has stolen the ransom money by smashing up his car, screaming, "This is what happens when you fuck a stranger in the ass!"
Whenever Walter gets his dander up, he inevitably finds some way to link it back to some obviously unresolved issues with his tour in Vietnam. In fact, he finds an excuse to mention 'nam in just about any situation.
What the fuck does anything have to do with Vietnam?
The cab driver freaks out and bodily throws the Dude out of his cab just for insulting The Eagles.
Bittersweet Ending: The Cowboy argues for this. We hear there's a little Lebowski on the way, albeit one that won't have the Dude's involvement in his upbringing. In addition, Big Lebowski gets traumatized by Walter for his swindle, and the irritating Nihilists won't harass the Dude anymore. And, you know, come what may... "the Dude abides."
Black Comedy: One of the blackest. Even Walter's euolgy/funeral for Donny ends up being hilarious.
Briefcase Full of Money: which turned out to not have money in it at all. Perhaps someone should have opened it. Walter replaces the real one with his undies.
Broken Record: You see what happens Larry ?!? You see what happens Larry ?!? You see what what happens Larry when you try to fuck a stranger in the ass ?!? You see what happens Larry ?!?...
Busby Berkeley Number: "Gutterballs". Somewhat justified, the Dude is insanely high at that point.
Butt Monkey: Donny gets no respect from his friends (especially Walter) when he tries to join in on their conversations. Literally the only time he isn't told to shut the fuck up by Walter, or something similar, is at the end - when he's dying.
The Cameo: Aimee Mann appears briefly as the fourth member of the Nihilist gang. She contributed a cover of "Viva Las Vegas" for the end credits.
Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea is the Nihilist who gets his chest caved in by Walter's bowling ball.
Camp Gay: "Knox Harrington. The video artist." Played by David Thewlis. Who giggles madly for no reason at times, much to the Dude's consternation.
Candlelit Bath: "Far out, man." Shortly ruined by the nihilists and their "marmot" (actually a ferret).
Captain Obvious: Donny, which may be part of the reason why Walter and the Dude ignore him all the time. (ie: "Jeffrey Lebowski? That's your name, Dude!")
Your phone's ringing, Dude.
Thank you, Donny.
Cassandra Truth/The Cuckoolander Was Right: Walter speculates what really happened throughout the movie and is right almost every time. No one believes him. "Am I wrong?" The only thing he wasn't right about was Bunny kidnapping herself, but that wasn't his idea anyway, and he was right that she was safe all along - and she might as well have kidnapped herself, anyway. Though he was right that "that's not her toe, dude."
He's wrong when he thinks the Big Lebowski isn't disabled and throws him on the floor, except he might have been right about that, too: the Big Lebowski's leg visibly kicks when Walter throws him down. Probably an acting mistake, could be very subtle confirmation of Walter's theory. Which would make Walter correct about absolutely everything.
Catch Phrase: A number, which is a pretty big understatement.
Maude and the Dude as they watch Karl Hungus's star in a porn movie as a cable repair guy. Maude comments that "the story is ludicrous" and tells Dude that he can imagine where the plot goes. The Dude ventures, "He fixes the cable?"
At one point, Maude shows up in the Dude's apartment, shrugs off the robe she's wearing and, completely naked, demands "Jeffrey, love me." The Dude's response? A confused "That's my robe."
Cool Car: 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!
Covert Pervert: Bunny implies that Brandt is willing to pay to watch her have sex with other men.
Cowboy: The Stranger "got a whole cowboy thing going". His style is very diggable.
Cultural Posturing: Courtesy of Walter, who is not even of Jewish descent and he converted to Judaism for his (now ex-) wife
Walter: Three thousand years of beautiful tradition, from Moses to Sandy Koufax. YOU'RE GODDAMN RIGHT I'M LIVING IN THE FUCKING PAST!
The Danza: Despite The Dude's seeming similarity to Jeff Bridges, he is actually based on another friend of the Coen Brothers, Jeff "The Dude" Dowd. Both Dowd, Dude, and Bridges are named Jeffrey.
Maude: Lord, you can imagine where it goes from here.
Dude: He fixes the cable?
Deconstructive Parody: Of the Film Noir genre and detective stories in general. The "detectives" are made up of a stoner, a 'Nam obsessed lunatic, and a random friend of their's who is forciblly kept out of the plot. And all the mysterious clues and the potential deadly conspiracy they're investigating? They are nonexistent. All those clues were just random stuff that had a perfectly logical explantion and there never even was a conspiracy to begin with.
They do discover that the Big Lebowski had a plot to embezzle money and sacrifice Bunny...but this discovery doesn't really lead to anything. They basically just yell at him and leave..
Happens earlier, too, when Maude's goons knock The Dude out to take her rug back. It consists of him flying through the air above LA and following Maude on a flying carpet (the Persian rug that was just taken from him), then suddenly having a bowling ball in his hand and falling to Earth.
Disproportionate Retribution: Walter threatens to shoot Smokey after he tries to mark it eight when he was over the line.
Dirty Cop: "Jackie Treehorn draws a lot of water in this town. You don't draw shit, Lebowski."
Drink Order: "Dude will have a White Russian." "Yeah. Got anymore of that good sarsaparilla?"
Dropped a Bridge on Him: Donny's death is a deliberate subversion of the unwritten rule that nobody ever dies for random or plot-unimportant reasons in Film Noir, or really, any genre except weird comedies. "It's a heart attack." Though, considering the scene in which his death occurs, it may be a Double Subversion.
El Spanish O: You can call him "El Duderino", if you're not into the whole brevity thing.
Erudite Stoner: The Dude. Has "the occasional acid flashback".
Establishing Character Moment: The first thing His Dudeness The Slacker is shown doing is shopping for half-and-half in his robe, tasting it in the store, then paying for it by writing a check for 69 cents.
Evil Plan: The titular Lebowski's machinations during the kidnapping; If the Dude 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 taking the heat for "botching" the exchange.
Exact Eavesdropping: Subverted; the Dude is in a conversation with Jackie Treehorn when the latter receives a call, writes down something on a notepad, tears off the notepad, and excuses himself. The Dude, in full sneaky investigator mode, grabs the notepad and shades it with the side of a pencil to highlight the impression made on the next sheet of paper. It turns out to be an anatomically exaggerated picture of a man.
Faked Kidnapping: Walter and then the Dude believe this might be the case.
"It's like Lenin said. You look for the person who will benefit, and, uh, you know."
Fanservice: Slow-motion bouncing topless women at a beach party, and Julianne Moore painting naked.
Fan Disservice: The instance where Maude essentially flies in naked, strapped into a rather imposing harness, shrieking and howling and spattering paint.
Fauxlosophic Narration: Parodied; the Stranger tries to present a sage, wise perspective on things, but keeps losing his train of thought.
Also, Bunny, who offers the Dude a $1,000 blowjob when they first meet.
Finger in the Mail: The eponymous "Big" Jeffrey Lebowski is sent one of his wife's, Bunny, toes after a botched money exchange. It's later revealed to not be his wife's toe.
Fish out of Water: 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.
Foot Focus: Bunny's feet are shown quite extensively in a few scenes, with emphasis on the nail polish, and so are the Dude's in the tub. The former's a plot point - her toe is definitely not sawed off.
Foreshadowing: "You guys are dead in the water." Where do Walter and the Dude take Donny's ashes?
Fourth Wall Greeting: The DVD introduction includes a thoroughly bizarre parody of film preservation societies, apropos of nothing. And yet, it's completely in keeping with the film.
Freeze Frame Bonus: When the Dude picks up Walter for the dropoff, one can clearly see Walter runs a store selling security equipment.
Freudian Threat: "Tomorrow we come back and we cut off your chonson."
Friendship Moment: Happens after the last time the Nihilists show up. Donny gets scared and Walter gently reassures him. That's it. Just one quick moment, not particularly touching, but if it weren't for this, Walter's heartfelt eulogy for Donny would seem like it came out of nowhere, seeing as the rest of their interaction in the film is Walter shouting at Donny and telling him to shut the fuck up.
The Fun in Funeral: "Goddammit, Walter! Everything's a fuckin' travesty with you, man! What was all that shit about Vietnam?"
Funny Background Event: While the Dude and Walter bicker in the car after Walter pulled a gun on Smokey, you can see cops pull into the lot and run into the bowling alley in response to the incident being called in.
You can also see Bunny, presumably as high as a weather balloon on drugs, happily prancing around naked outside in the background while the Dude and Walter confront Brandt on their way to see Lebowski.
Glorified Sperm Donor: The "glorified" bit is definitely averted. "I don't want the father to be someone I have to see socially, or who will have any interest in raising the child himself."
Good Is Not Nice: Walter is not a bad guy, all right, but, heavens, he has a way to behave towards Donny or towards people in general. Then there's also the Dude himself, who isn't a violent person like Walter was, but makes up for it by being an incredibly lazy and occasionally stubborn slacker.
Good Night Sweet Prince: "In accordance with what we think your last wish may very well have been, we now commit your mortal remains to the bosom of the Pacific Ocean. Good night, sweet prince."
Goshdang It To Heck: Only in TV broadcasts. "Do you see what happens when you find a stranger in the Alps?"
The TV broadcast version 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 hypocritical humor.
Gravity Is a Harsh Mistress: The Dude has a flying dream which ends when he notices he's holding a bowling ball and promptly hurtles groundward.
Groin Attack: "I said WE'LL CUT OFF YOUR CHONSON!"
"Ja, maybe we stomp on it and skvoosh it!"
"My only hope is that the Big Lebowski will kill me before the Germans cut my dick off..."
Gulf War: "Now this here story I'm about to unfold took place back in the early '90s - just about the time of our conflict with Sad'm and the Eye-raqis." It doesn't factor into the setting much, except for Saddam showing up during a hallucination and Walter referencing it in one of his temper tantrums. It also backdates the movie by about ten years, allowing the leads to be relatively young while plausibly having been involved with the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War.
Hair-Trigger Temper: Walter. "For your information, the Supreme Court has roundly rejected prior restraint!"
The taxi driver the Dude takes from his escapade to Treehorn's mansion also really doesn't like people badmouthing The Eagles.
Heterosexual Life Partners: "Fuck it, Dude. Let's go bowling." The last of which was preceded by a manhug.
Hidden Depths: For all his apparent psychopathy, Walter deeply loves his ex-wife Cynthia, even though she's long since moved on with another man. He frequently does random favors for her at the drop of a hat, and it's heavily implied that he only clings to Judaism because it's the only connection that he has with her (he was raised Catholic, and converted to Judaism when he got married).
Historical Character Confusion: The Dude is struggling with a Lenin quote ("You look for the person who will benefit...") which he cannot remember properly. Donny, trying to be helpful, repeatedly mentions Lennon's 1967 song "I Am the Walrus".
Also, Lebowski and his family are based on General Sternwood's family from The Big Sleep.
Humble Goal: "All The Dude wanted was his rug back."
Which is weird because his rug was never stolen, it was just peed on and he presumably threw it away after that introductory scene. The only rug that was taken from him was one HE stole in the first place, later rightfully reclaimed by Maude who won't return it as part of their bargain. If the Dude wanted his rug back, he could've just taken it to a cleaner and returned for it on Thursday of next week.
Hypocritical Humor: Many of the film's ironies can be found in the characters' various hypocrises, for example:
Maude expresses disapproval of people who have sex only for pleasure or personal gain, without love, and yet only sleeps with The Dude because she wants his seed.
Walter says pacifism is nothing to hide behind, and yet he's flashing the peace sign when the actual owner of "Larry's" car angrily brandishes hs crow bar at him.
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 he inherited his late wife's money
The Dude is noticeably disturbed by the Nihilists' threat to castrate him, to the point of having a drug addled nightmare about it, and yet he non-chalantly threatens to do the same thing to Larry, a fifteen year old boy.
The Nihilists constantly say that they believe in nothing, yet, at the end they complain that it's not fair that they didn't get any money.
Walter: Fair? Who's the fucking nihilists here you bunch of fucking crybabies?
In the final confrontation between the Dude, Walter and Jeffrey Lebowski, Lebowski insinuates that he's willing to accuse the Dude and Walter of stealing the money. Walter bellows "As if we would ever dream of taking your bullshit money!" ... conveniently forgetting that he did, in fact, intend to steal what he thought was the money.
One of Those Two Guys working for Jackie Treehorn at one point smugly informs the Dude that "you're not dealin' with morons here." Yes, in fact, he is. As evidenced by the simple fact that in the very first scene they took forever to figure out that maybe the grungy hippy bachelor living in the dive wasn't a married millionaire.
And of course, Walter screaming, "Am I the only one around here who gives a shit about the rules?" while brandishing a pistol at someone in a bowling alley over a score dispute.
Also, Walter calls out The Dude for using the racial slur "Chinaman" yet is perfectly fine with using "kraut," another slur, in casual conversation.
I Have Many Names: "Or, you know, Duder, or His Dudeness, or El Duderino, if you're not into the whole brevity thing."
I Have Your Wife: Bunny, the millionaire Lebowski's wife is kidnapped. Or is she? In fact, it turns out that no, she isn't.
Incredibly Lame Pun: "They're Nihilists, Donny. There's nothing to be afraid of."
Informed Ability: In his eulogy, it is mentioned by Walter that Donny loved to surf. This is the only time that hobby comes up in the movie.
Subverted entirely when it comes to Donny's bowling skills. Watch carefully throughout the film's bowling scenes - The only time Donny misses a strike (and looks visibly perturbed by it) is the scene just before the fight with the nihilists, and his death.
Insistent Terminology: Walter: "Also, Dude, 'Chinaman' is not the preferred nomenclature. Asian-American, please."
Jackie Treehorn: I deal in publishing. Entertainment. Political advocacy. The Dude: Which one's Logjammin?
It's the Principle of the Thing: "They peed on your fucking rug." In fact, most of the film revolves around the fact the Dude wants his rug and car back. "That rug really tied the room together."
Ironic Echo: The Dude, having turned the tables on The Big Lebowski: "Where's the fucking money, Lebowski?"
Jerkass: Walter gets constantly called out on his obnoxiousness and The Dude once on passing (see I Resemble That Remark above). They pay little mind to mild language. Varying cases can be made for the rest of the picturesque cast. The nihilists, sociopathic wannabees may tower above their peers.
The Dude: You're not wrong Walter. You're just an asshole!
Walter: Okay then.
Karma Houdini: Walter. He pulled a gun on a man in a bowling alley where everybody knew who he was and destroyed a brand new luxury car, and somehow manages to avoid jail time, or any other form of actual punishment. Also, the Big Lebowski over his scheme, unless you count Walter traumatizing him and crushing his inflated ego.
Kick the Dog: More like Shove the Dog: Big Lebowski did this to a dog that was just trying to comfort him.
Kill It with Fire: The Dude's car meets its end this way at the hands of the nihilists.
Well, they finally did it. They killed my fucking car.
Lame Comeback: "Yeah, well, you know, that's just like... uh... your opinion, man."
When the guy insulting you is a pederast, you might as well shrug and say, "Eight year olds".
Lawyer-Friendly Cameo: Autobahn, the extremely obscure '70s synth-pop band that Uli and his nihilist friends were in, is loosely based on Kraftwerk and takes its name from Kraftwerk's best known album.
Lazy Bum: The Dude, and referred to as such by The Big Lebowski and the Malibu chief of police.
Lemony Narrator: "Way out west, there was this fella I wanna tell you about..." Variation in that he's not sarcastic, just completely clueless about the genre.
Let's Get Dangerous: While Walter does seem less-than-stable throughout the movie, it's mostly in a bombastic and ineffective sense that tends to make him less useful rather than more. At the very end in the confrontation with the nihilists, however, he demonstrates how effective he can really be. Although as the other two point out, they are only being shaken down for about twenty bucks.
Possibly "Life does not stop and start at your convenience, you miserable piece of shit!" Walter may be replying to The Dude's story about Brandt giving The Dude a beeper so he can be contacted at any time.
"Donny, shut the f- when do we play?"
Malaproper: "Mr. Treehorn treats objects like women, man!"
Considering Treehorn mentions electronic innovations in erotic entertainment, this may be a subversion. On the filmmakers' part, at least.
Manly Tears: "Do my tears surprise you? Strong men also cry, Mr. Lebowski. Strong men...also cry..." Possibly a subversion since you never see his tears indicating that he either knows she kidnapped herself or that he actually doesn't care about her.
He sheds a few real ones when Walter tosses him to the floor, but by then we know he's not really a strong man anyway.
Meaningful Echo: Except the joke lies in it being meaningless or at least random, several quotes or words are recycled later:
Bush the Elder's speech about "unchecked aggression" is paraphrased later by Walter and The Dude regarding the rug-related invasion.
The Dude adds Maude's "in the parlance of our times" line to his "young trophy wife" when he is summoned again by The Big Lebowski.
The Millstone: By involving himself in the Dude's "case", Walter probably causes more trouble than he solves.
"Yes, Walter, there is an unspoken message here, it's fuck you!LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE! ...Yes, I'll be at practice."
Double subverted a bit later. If Walter had never been involved, who would have saved the Dude and Donnie from the Nihilists? They would have probably been content with taking the money that Donny and the Dude had on them at the time before Walter chimed in with his retort of "Fuck you. What's mine is mine." And Donny wouldn't have had his heart attack. And really, if the Dude had never listened to Walter, he never would have met the Nihilists to begin with.
Mock Guffin: "It's my dirty undies. Laundry, the whites."
Mock Millionaire: It turns out Big Lebowski only has a very limited control over his late wife's fortune and is embezzling money
Mood Whiplash: Donny's death. After two hours of intrigue and crazy drug-fueled antics, Walter and the Dude have nothing left to do but solemnly mourn a man who spent the entire movie as a punching bag. The movie ends with the two of them in the bowling alley again, quietly contemplating their lives.
Mushroom Samba: Thrice. "The man in me will do / Nearly any task..."
"I got up so tight/I couldn't unwind/I saw so much/I broke my mind..."
Naked on Arrival: We're introduced to Maude Lebowski as she's swinging from a harness completely naked while squirting paint on a canvas.
"I spent most of my time occupying various administration buildings... smoking a lot of Thai stick... breaking into the ROTC... and bowling."
"Smokey's a pacifist!"
No Celebrities Were Harmed: Walter was partially based on the director, screenwriter, and gun enthusiast John Milius, who is a good friend of the Coen Brothers.
No, Except Yes: The Dude, when trying to explain his relationship with Maude to a private detective.
"She's not my special lady; she's my fucking lady friend! I'm just helping her conceive, man!"
Obfuscating Disability: "I've seen a lot of spinals, Dude. And this guy fuckin' walks." Subverted a moment later
Odd Couple: The Dude and Walter. One's a laid-back stoner hippy, the other's a tightly wound Vietnam vet with anger management issues.
Ominous Latin Chanting: During the "What makes a man" scene, the Lacrymosa from Mozart's Requiem is playing.
One Steve Limit: Averted: "The other Jeffrey Lebowski! The millionaire!"
Captain Obvious: Donny, whenever he comes in late to the conversation.
"Jeffrey Lebowski? That's your name, Dude!"
Only Sane Man: Massive subversion with Walter, who proves to be the only insane man: "Has the whole world gone CRAZY?! Am I the only one around here who gives a shit about the rules?" Right before pulling out a Colt on a bowler who simply rule-argued with him.
Of course, Walter proves ultimately correct about the kidnapping and the severed toe and all.
Phony Veteran: Walter is so insistent and full of himself about his 'Nam experiences that the subtext suggests that it's just another of his shenanigans. Averted in the final cut of the film, a deleted scene had the Dude revealing that it was all nonsense.
Phrase Catcher: The Dude gets this a couple of different times, but the most distinctive is both Lebowski and Walter chastising the Dude for his "Fuck it" philosophy, calling it "[his] answer for everything."
Toward the end, the Dude finally gets to say what everyone else has said to him at some point:
Maude: You can imagine where it goes from here. Dude: He fixes the cable?
Playing Against Type: To some degree, John Goodman as Walter Sobchak. John Goodman's characters, when not directed by the Coen Brothers, tend to be nice, huggable jolly guys. Walter is anything but.
Which nearly became his type. Goodman said in an interview that a lot of the roles offer to him post-Lebowski were variations of the blustering Walter character.
Also, Steve Buscemi's role as a clueless, laid-back slacker who can't get a word in edgewise was written as a jokey inversion of the motor-mouthed psychopath types he'd played in Fargo and Reservoir Dogs. Walter's oft-repeated line "shut the fuck up Donny!" is precisely because Buscemi's wouldn't shut up in Fargo.
Poisonous Friend: Walter Sobchak is technically responsible for everything that happens to the Dude after the intial rug-soiling incident, because it is he who kickstarts the plot by convincing the Dude to seek out the Big Lebowski for recompense over the rug instead of dropping the whole matter.
Police Are Useless: It's implied that the LAPD show up only after a (at least half-an-hour) tournament, after Walter nearly shoots a fellow bowler in the face.
The cop who gives The Dude back his wrecked car, who suddenly turns into a condescending snarker when the Dude asks if they have any leads on who stole his car:
"Leads, yeah, sure. I'll just check with the boys down at the crime lab, they've got four more detectives working on the case. They got us working in shifts! [Cop laughing]
Police Brutality: The Malibu Sheriff, who throws his mug at The Dude and begins kicking the shit out of him.
Dude: And, you know, has it ever occurred to you, that, instead of, uh, you know, running around, uh, uh, blaming me, you know, given the nature of all this new shit, you know, I-I-I-I... this could be a-a-a-a lot more, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, complex, I mean, it's not just, it might not be just such a simple... uh, you know? Lebowski: What in God's holy name are you blathering about?
It was like that in the script - everything but "you human paraquat" was scripted.
Plays up the contrast between the "regular people" and the "film characters," as a side note. Characters who are obviously played as characters don't stutter, and engage in dialog - Maude, in particular, speaks like she's just stepped out of an old movie. Characters played as regular people thrust into a movie plot - like the Dude - have conversations, with all the attendant "ums" and misunderstandings.
Red Herring: Da Fino, the guy following The Dude around in the VW, turns out to have nothing to do with the conspiracy - he's actually following it around.
Not to mention the toe.
Also, Jackie Treehorn's hastily-scribbled note.
The essay in The Dude's car.
In fact, virtually every single lead The Dude and Walt follow turns out to be a red herring.
The Reveal: There was no kidnapping plot and no ransom money. Bunny was just off visiting friends, and Lebowski pretended to have a million dollars given to the Nihilists, giving him a reason to withdraw money out of one of his 'charities' and get rid of two loose ends bothering him.
Royal "We": When The Dude is told to Come Alone, 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 Royal "We"."
Rules Lawyer: "You're not wrong. You're just an asshole!"
Walter mentioning 'Nam whenever it pertains to the given situation. Or when it has completely nothing to do with it at all.
Donny trying to join in on Walter and The Dude's conversations (regardless of whether he actually knows what they're talking about), only for Walter to shut him up.
The various acts of violence done to The Dude's car, culminating in the nihilists setting it on fire at the end.
Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: Jackie Treehorn, according to the police chief. "Mr. Treehorn draws a lot of water in this town. You don't draw shit, Lebowski."
Serious Business: Bowling, to everyone involved. Especially Walter.
Smokey, this is not 'Nam. This is bowling. There are rules.
MARK IT ZERO!!!
Walter, Donny and The Dude play in a league so hardcore, sticking a pistol in an opponent's face over a rules violation not only won't get you disqualified, but the foul will be upheld.
Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: There is a book version of this movie called The Most Excellent Comedie and Tragical Romance of Two Gentlemen of Lebowski by Adam Bertocci. It retells the premise of this movie in Shakespearean style (as in, What If?The Big Lebowski was written by Shakespeare?)
Walter's emphasis on the simplicity of his plan is likely a shoutout to the film A Simple Plan, given that its director, Sam Raimi, is friends with the Coens.
Walter is constantly telling Donny to shut up, which is a reference to Fargo, another Coen Brothers film in which Steve Buscemi's character would not shut up.
Shrine To Self: The eponymous "Big" Lebowski has one. The Dude is given a guided tour.
Signature Line: "The Dude Abides" is only said twice, but it quickly caught on with fans of the film.
Skewed Priorities: When Lebowski's limo driver is forcefully pulling The Dude to Lebowski's limo (after the drop-off), Dude warns the guy, "Careful, man! There's a beverage here!"
Single Issue Wonk: Walter tries to tie everything back to Vietnam. The Dude finally gets sick of it when he pulls it during Donny's eulogy.
What the fuck does anything have to do with Vietnam?
Stranger: The Dude, from Los Angeles. And even if he's a lazy man - and the Dude was most certainly that. Quite possibly the laziest in all of Los Angeles County, which would place him high in the runnin' for laziest worldwide.
Soundtrack Dissonance: In the "family restaurant", during the Dude and Walter's profanity-laced dialogue about kidnapping and toes cut off, Debbie Reynolds' cutesy song, "Tammy" plays in the background.
Also Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Lookin' Out My Back Door" when the Dude drops a lit joint in his car, causing him to crash. It was, however, Suspiciously Apropos Music for the Beetle following him.
And, of course, a song about a "back door" was playing immediately after the Dude had had a prostate exam...
Spirit Advisor: The Dude questions the Stranger about this:
Straw Nihilist: The nihilists. "Ve beliefe in NUSTHING!!!"
"Ahh, that must be exhausting."
And then they get chewed out for not being real nihilists at the end:
"Is not fair!" "Fair?! Who's the fucking nihilists around here, you bunch of fucking crybabies?!"
Stupid Crooks: The story begins with two thugs breaking into The Dude's house and pissing on his rug after they manage to mistake him for a multi-millionaire - they don't even leave until they finally notice the Dude's living in a crappy house for a millionaire. Later, we get what is possibly the opposite of a lampshading when they finally get things sorted out and are summoned to collect the 'deadbeat' Lebowski:
First Goon: You're not dealin' with morons here.
Tech Marches On: Nowadays, bowling alleys have automated scoring, and fouls would register automatically, so Walter's tirade would not happen... in the same way; Walter being the kind of guy who argues even against machines, would contest it somehow: I saw what I saw. Faulty sensor. Edit the score to zero.
Walter does it again when the Nihilists show up in person to rob them. He crushes one Nihilist's lung and bites off the ear of another. The second is possibly justified because the guy came at him with a sword.
The Unreveal: Did Walter and The Dude make it to the Finals? The movie ends right before their game starts, so we never find out.
Unusual Euphemism: Ties in with Goshdang It To Heck in edited-for-TV/aircraft versions, but improves upon it with: "This is what happens, Larry! This is what happens when you feed a stoner scrambled eggs!" (Alternatively "...when you find a stranger in the Alps!")
The Vamp: Bunny. "I'll suck your cock for a thousand dollars."
Uh, I'm just gonna go find a cash machine ...
Vandalism Backfire: 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 neighbor runs out screaming about his new Corvette. He decides to destroy Walter's car, which of course actually belongs to The Dude.
Vitriolic Best Buds: The Dude and Walter are, to an outside observer, completely incompatible people who, true to form, spend most of their time loudly arguing with each other. However, they're practically inseparable. Same with Walter and Donny; Walter spends a lot of time browbeating and yelling at Donny yet is clearly cut up when Donny dies from a heart attack.
The Walrus Was Paul: Some suspect the film was intentionally designed to make a fool of anyone who attempts to analyze it, particularly after the Coens' previous movie Fargo had become a darling among highbrow critics.
In the first scene with Jesus, the Dude and Walter are talking about Lenin. Donny, getting the wrong end of the stick, keeps saying "I am the Walrus."
The Watson: Subverted with Donny, who is Locked Out of the Loop. "You have no frame of reference. You're like a child who wanders into the middle of a movie, and wants to know..."
Where Do You Think You Are?: Walter's obnoxious habit of loudly getting on his high horse leads to people saying this. "This is a family restaurant." "This is a mortuary. Not a rental house."
"Smokey, this is not 'Nam. This is bowling. There are rules."
The nihilists talk a good game but are ultimately revealed to be this, since Walter ends up handing them their asses more or less single-handedly over the course of about a minute.
When the Dude confronts Da Fino, the actualPrivate Detective, things look they're going to get physical for a moment. And by 'physical', this means they don't actually make contact with each other but sort of flinch.
What Happened to the Mouse?: Bunny still owes Jackie Treehorn a pile of cash, but that's now a problem for her and the Big Lebowski to deal with.
Those kids at the charity never got their money back...
With Friends Like These: The Dude and Walter have a deep friendship, but it's sometimes hard to tell with all that bickering. Even dropped by The Dude at one point.
The Dude: With friends like these, huh, Gary?
Writing Indentation Clue: The Dude uses this trick to see what Treehorn wrote while taking a phone call, but it turns out to be just a doodle of a man with... implausible anatomy.
The Dude thinks all the various threads he uncovers must figure into the big mystery at the center of the plot. They don't.
The narrator thinks the film is a Western. It isn't.
An argument can be made that all of the characters seem to have stumbled into this movie from different ones and consequently don't seem to be quite sure of exactly what kind of movie they're in. In addition to the Stranger's confusion over whether this is a western or not:
The Dude's walked right out of a stoner comedy or a 1960s New Hollywood-style counterculture flick.
Walter acts like he's in a Vietnam drama that chronicles the veteran's harrowing struggle to reacclimatise back into civilian society after everything he's seen and done.
The Big Lebowksi, Maude, Jackie Treehorn and Da Fino seem to think and act like they're playing a Film Noir straight (and even manage to convince Walter of this for a time).
The nihilists believe they're in a quirky-but-dark Tarantino-inspired crime thriller about a gang of eccentric Villain Protagonists.
From what we see, Bunny apparently thinks she's in a porn movie.
Donny is just an ordinary guy who thinks he's in a slightly eccentric bowling team but has an otherwise normal life. He's probably the most wrong out of all of them.
Yes Man: Brandt, who laughs and compliments everything that comes out of The Big Lebowski's mouth, even if it's not a joke.
You Can Keep Her: How Lebowski really feels about his wife getting kidnapped, and the reason why he feels no qualms pocketing the ransom money and setting the Dude up to take the fall.
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