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Far out ‘Fargo’ follow-up should satisfy fansBy Dann GireDailv Herald Film CriticEvery critic has a personal pet peeve when it comes to lame, over used storytelling devices in the movies. Mine happens to bethe spit take, where a characterspews a drink across the room to register surprise at something someone says, usually something about sex.I only mention this because Jeff Bndges does a spit-take in the Coen brothers’ new movie “The Big Lebowski.” As spit-takes go, Bridges executes his flawlessly, right after Julianne Moore informs him she wants to have his baby. (He should be good; he had previous spit-take experience in “The Mirror Has Two Faces.”)That those wily Coen brothers — director writer Joel and producer/writer Ethan — would employ such an overused visual gag indicates a certain desperation in making “The Big Lebowski,” a visually dazzling but cold and mean-spirited black comedy.In their last movie, the delightfully offbeat crimedy “Fargo,” the Coens set up their fictional tale as a true story, which meant they had to dump their usual bag of hyperbolic visual tricks and deliver a straight-forward account of a crime spree that could have reallyhappened.With “The Big Lebowski,” the Coens return to their “Hudsucker Proxy” ways, and despite Jeff Bridges’ ability to humanize the cast, this anxiously awaited “Fargo” follow-up falls victim to the dreaded stvle-over-substanceMOVIE REVIEW“The Big Lebowski”* ★ ViWritten by Joel and Ethan Coen. Produced by Ethan Coen. Directed by Joel Coen. A Gramercy Pictures release. Rated R (nudity, language, violence). Running time: 117 minutes.Cast:The Dude......................Jeff BridgesWalter Sobchak........John GoodmanMaude Lebowski......Julianne MooreThe Big Lebowski..David HuddlestonDonny......................Steve BuscemiWith David Tbewlis, Sam Elliott, John Turturro and Ben Gazzara.virus.Bridges plays Jeff Lebowski, a laid-back, fashion-challenged, White-Russian-swilling, bowling-obsessed poster boy for acute adult slackerism. One night some thugs break into his apartment, apparently mistaking him for another Jeff Lebowski, a multimillionaire whose wife owes lots of gambling debts.The poor Lebowski — he calls himself “The Dude” because he hates his real name — visits the rich Lebowski (David Huddleston) to warn him about the dangerous debt collectors. Mrs. Lebowski (Tara Reid) is kidnapped, so her husband hires the Dude to be the bagman for the $1 million ransom.But the Dude makes a mistake by allowing his best bowling buddyWalter Sobchak (John Goodman) to come along. A Vietnam vet Walter seems to be stuck in a perceptual post-stress-syndrome stage, ready to pull his weapons and dance with death at a moment’s notice — except on Saturday.As a converted Jew, he doesn’t do anything on “Shabbes unless it’s a matter of life and death. Which things get to be very quickly for the Dude. Instead of tossing the money off a bridge as instructed by the kidnappers. Walter tosses out a suitcase full of his underwear. Why should the Dude settle for $100,000 when they both can keep the million dollars?The Coen brothers have always devised their films (excepting “Fargo”) to be the Olympics for camera lenses, which race, jump, dive and twist in a marathon of funky visual riffs. Here, the Coens include wacky. Wile E. Coyote-esque dream sequences, some drug induced, where the Dude flies between the parted legs of nameless women to score a strike with a bowling ball at the end.These splashy, bubble-gum-col-Jeff (Jeff Bridges, left) and his Jewish pal Walter (John Goodman) rest their fingers in “The Big Lebowski.”ored segments work like commer- man “Nilhilists” all doing imita-cial breaks from the main plot, in which the Dude keeps bumping into some bizarre characters including Lebowski’s naked-flying-painting-artist daughter Maude (Julianne Moore, enunciating like a female Thurston Howell the Third); a prominent porno producer (Ben Gazzara); a helium-giddy nincompoop (played by David Thewlis); a Hispanic bowling geek named Jesus (a hair-netted John Turturro on crack); a trio of Ger-tions of Mike Myers’ Dieter character; and the Stranger, the enigmatic cowboy narrator (Sam Elliott).For Coen fans, this din of weirdness will probably su entertainment.ce as grandStill, the Coens seem to defy us to like their movie. Outside of Walter and the Dude, the most sympathetic character is Donny the bowler (Steve Buscemi).And they kill him off.
Newspaper Details
Arlington Heights Daily Herald Suburban Chicago
Arlington Heights, Illinois, US
Fri, Mar 06, 1998
Page 273
Full Page
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USA 13 Jan 2023
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