The Big Lebowski (1998) Had *TEAR-PRODUCING* Comedy! - First Time Watching - Movie Reaction/Review 

This is one of those rare comedies that keeps getting funnier the more you watch it. A true masterpiece.

When Walter tried to commit Donnie's ashes to the water, the wind blew them into the air. Even in death, Donnie was out of his element.

"Smokey, this is not 'Nam. This is bowling, there are rules." Might be my favorite line in all of cinema lmfaoo

The yelling at Donnie is a meta joke as Steve's character in Fargo never stopped talking.

The film was written by the Coen Bros, and Bridges has addressed the fact that there was essentially no improvisation or deviation from the script. Every dudeism was written as is, so it's not just a testament to the writing but the caliber of acting as well.

I have watched this film more times than I can count and I never tire of it. It’s endlessly quotable and so well acted. Phillip Seymour Hoffman is so great with his facial expressions. Walter is an absolute legend. Such a fantastic film!

"Yeah, well, you know, that's just like, uh, your opinion, man." Fun Fact: With the exception of The Dude (Jeff Bridges) helping Maude (Julianne Moore) bowl in a fantasy, The Dude is never actually seen bowling once. The Real Dude Fact: A lot of the Dude's clothes in the movie were Jeff Bridges's own clothes, including his Jellies sandals, which he reportedly still owns and uses to this very day. Big Paraquat Fact: In an interview with Rolling Stone Magazine, John Goodman stated that The Dude (Jeff Bridges) referring to The Big Lebowski (David Hiddleston) as a "human paraquat" was one of the only improvised lines to make it into the final film. Virtually every other line was scripted.

"Thorough" was correct for that old-timey transatlantic dialect of English.

'Raising Arizona' and 'O Brother Where art Thou' are two other great comedies by the Coen Brothers. You two need to explore the Coen Brothers as they have a very unique writing style with very very interesting characters and dialects.

Maude has what was called a Mid-Atlantic accent. It used to be something that was learned and spoken by old, blue blood money from the North East. It was especially reinforced at the fancy boarding schools such people would send their kids to. Watch episodes of the old Gilligan's Island show. The old rich people on the island spoke with a Mid-Atlantic accent. Someone once said this is a story that keeps trying to form around the Dude, but he's just not interested in playing along.

I am an ordained minister in the Church of The Dude. True story. Shotgun weddings are my specialty if you need to get married in a hurry.

That rug really tied the room together....

Yes! Glad you all watched this. I love this movie so much! lol Absolutely timeless. I love the bantor between Walter, Donnie, and the Dude in the bowling alley. It seems so much like it's improv, but is actually 100 percent written. Brilliant acting!

"We wanted to do a Raymond Chandler kind of story - how it moves episodically, and deals with the characters trying to unravel a mystery, as well as having a hopelessly complex plot that's ultimately unimportant" - Joel Coen

There are three brilliant singers/songsriters/musicians in this film. Flea (Nihilist) of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Aimee Mann (owner of the pinkie toe) of Til Tuesday and Jimmie Dale Gilmore (Smokey) of The Flatlanders. Look them up. You won't be disappointed.

I've never noticed before that the check written at the beginning is ten years, to the day, before 9-11

This film is an homage to, and in the style of, Raymond Chandler, who wrote all those paperback Private Eye crime melodramas in the '40s set in L.A.(The Big Sleep, The Long Goodbye, Farewell My Lovely, etc.) and his protagonist, Phillip Marlowe, who is repeatedly roughed up by cops and hoods alike, gaslighted, beaten, drugged, and occasionally left for dead, and his plots tend to get convoluted. Here, The Dude's 'condition' was like an acid trip (the Wagnerian Opera setting showed the Heroine Brunhilde as the fat lady who sings - as in ' the opera ain't over until the fat lady sings'). Another early Coen Bros. film is RAISING ARIZONA (1987) with Nicholas Cage, Holly Hunter, John Goodman ... btw, Donny can't get a word in because when Steve Buscemi appeared in FARGO (1996) his character wouldn't stop talking, LOL!

You see what happens, Larry? You see what happens when you FIND a stranger in the ALPS?

What a movie/review to start of 2024!

One of my top ten movies. Endlessly quotable. Beautiful nest, Zay.

The movie is one of my favorite. Jeff Bridges is absolutely fantastic as the Dude, but the one who really chews up every scene he's in is John Goodman as Walter. Steve Buscemi in the previous Coen Brother's film (Fargo) was always yapping around so for this movie the Coens thought of giving him a role where he says almost nothing. The true highlight of the film is how mundane and real the interactions between The Dude, Walter and Donny are. They're hilarious. The way Walter always shuts up Donny cracks me up. This is definitely a movie that benefits from repeated viewings and only grows with time. Undoubtedly one of the classics of modern cinema.

Love the acting on the ashes scene. The dude just stands there gettin coated with ashes. 😂

One of my favorite movies of all time. And with the CCR soundtrack, how can you go wrong?

The film is very quotable. Walter is based on film director John Milius. Watch any interview with Milius and you can see Walter clearly. Donnie is told to stfu so much as a gag related to their previous movie, Fargo, Steve Buscemi's character in that film can't stop talking. The Germans are loosely based on German electronic music pioneers Kraftwerk. Kraftwerk had an album called "Autobahn," which is the name of the band the Germans in Big Lebowski belong to before they became extortionists. The style of the film is Raymond Chandler pulp/crime fiction where there are mysterious women, money, extortion, detectives, the central character trying to unravel it all, and undercover corruption and crime.

FYI: Walter is based on John Milius. He wrote Apocalypse Now (and the Quint story in Jaws) and directed Conan The Barbarian and Red Dawn.

The cast members are all top tier dramatic actors. The Coens really knew how to get what they wanted from their actors, and everyone wanted to work with them. I bet they had a blast filming this.

"You're out of your element Donnie!" This is essentially a quote fest occasionally interrupted by bowling. But that's just like, my opinion man! 😂

I’ve seen this movie a dozen times and never made the connection with the flying carpet. LOL!😂

Check out the Cohen Brother's movie O'Brother Where Art Thou. They were in the same head space when they wrote bother movies. It's just as funny and very strange. They could almost be in the same universe separated by time.

Her life is in your hands, Cam & Zay.

Oh HECKS yes!!! Just started & *can't wait!!*

You need to watch Raising Arizona. And as many Coen Brothers films as you can. They have a couple not so good ones, but most of their films are masterpieces.

I’m so damn glad, and always will be, that 17 year old me saw this in the theater opening weekend in 1998. Such a damn wonderful and endlessly rewatchable movie.

"This is our concern Dude." Is the most hilariously underrated quote from this movie.

Well now you have been introduced to The Coen Brothers! This is my personal favorite BUT I’ve seen them all and they are all great, not a bad one in them all! You could take a list close your eyes and point and you would pick a movie that you would really enjoy! Please react to more!

There's a movie that keeps happening around The Dude, but he's completely oblivious to it.

Her life was in our hands, man!

What a group of insane characters. It's like one human tragedy over another. I loved it! Labowski inhaling Donnie on the mountain top got me too! Hilarious! What a great reaction. You don't know how many times I've wanted to throw a coffee cup at a passenger. 🤪😬🤣

Welcome to the cult! We abide. You are definitely, _definitely,_ going to rate this a 9.9 after subsequent viewings.

My 2nd favorite bowling movie. First is 'Kingpin' with Woody Harrelson, Randy Quaid (Cousin Eddie on Christmas Vacation who plays an Amish man) and Bill Murray. Please check it out if you haven't. The funniest Amish bowling movie ever. Actually, the only one, I think. 😂

The Folgers can scene w Donnie ending up all over the dude might be the funniest scene I've ever seen. John Goodman is so great as Walter.

Gotta love Cam's reaction.

I know you edited it out but as a baseball fan, “3,000 years of beautiful tradition from Moses to Sandy Koufax” is one of my favorite lines in cinema history

And yeah, in several other Coen Brothers (I think) films, there's a scene where John Goodman is basically screaming for several minutes, just like in this film:)

It's commonly accepted that Sam Elliot is The Dude's guardian angel.

SO thrilled that you guys got around to this!!!!!

It's genuinely a brilliant comedy. John Goodman should have been nominated for an Oscar. I own this movie on blu-ray and watch it at least 3xs a month.

The secret to most Cohen Brothers films is it's not about the plot. The plot is only there to get interesting and wacky characters to interact.

This one is great but it has a deeper meaning many dont understand until. They get under the influence with mind altering substances

so glad you guys liked it. its usually hit or miss for most folks

An all time classic, one of the best comedies ever.

BEST JOHN GOODMAN PERFORMANCE!!👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

It was written and directed by the Cohen brothers (Joel and Ethan) who created some of the most idiosyncratic and quirky movies ever. Other than “The Big Lebowski,” I also love “Barton Fink,” “The Hudsucker Proxy,” “The Man Who Wasn’t There,” “True Grit”(2010), “Raising Arizona,” and “Oh Brother Where Art Thou.” Most of their Oscars were for two other movies, “Fargo” and “No Country for Old Men,” which I appreciated but aren’t among my favorites.

Two years after the Oscar-winning thriller satire "Fargo", Joel and Ethan Coen (--> writers, directors, producers) once again proved their unique sense of humor with "The Big Lebowski": they juxtaposed the lovingly drawn anti-hero with a multitude of crazy characters and absurdities to create a modern classic. It's really great to see how different the reactions are to the humor in this sensational film. While some viewers burst out laughing at every funny scene, others are often completely shocked, as you can see from their open mouths and wide-open eyes. 😁

It's a good movie, and thorough

Please please please watch Raising Arizona next ❤ Also a Coen Brothers movie

One of the most hilarious reactions you have made yet haha. Loved it!

I love how they charge in there with a ferret like it's a pitbull.

One of my favorite movies. The Coen Bro's always bring the singularly unique characters and the smart writing to every movie the make. Casting is impecable. Acting is fantastic. You will pick up on so much stuff in later viewings that you didn't prior. Little details in minor character interactions with the Dude become some of the funniest things. Every person, situation and plot point is important because of how the Dude stays the same. Endlessly quotable. One of those movies worth tracking down a revival showing where you can see it with 200 other fans.

Walter is the best man anyone could ever call a friend. Great reaction, thank you.

You guys had the best windy ashes face laugh yet, 😂😂😂, also Donnie is constantly cursed because he wouldnt shut up in the Coen movie Fargo, Coen brothers inside joke

Study this screenplay. It’s very melodic and rhythmic. After dozens of viewings this is still in my top 3 comedies.

KING PIN is the greatest bowling move ever ✌️

“They’re calling the cops man, put the piece away”

The ashes scene is one of the funniest thing's ever lol "Goodnight sweet prince"

My husband and his brother were the Dude and Walter for Halloween. Carried around a coffee can all night too lol

John Turturro as JESUS, is my fave!!😀😅😄😃😂

My family had our own ashes story that was similar to this (funny because this is me and my dad’s favorite comedy)…my grandpa was a huge Ted Williams fan (famous Boston Red Sox player for those who don’t know), so when he died we took a small pill bottle of his ashes to Fenway Park when we visited. We were lucky enough to be able to see the Sox take batting practice from the top of the Green Monster, and we decided to spread the ashes from up there. Unfortunately we did not take into account that when wind hits a giant 37 foot tall wall, it blows straight up, so when we dumped the ashes they blew directly into the face of the lady next to us who had zero idea what happened lol. She thought it was just dirt and we never said a word…as bad as we felt, we thought grandpa would have laughed if he saw that happen…lol so we always think of that moment when we watch that scene

If you want to see more Jeff Bridges, watch "Crazy Heart". It's Jeff as a has-been country music singer, seeing his career on the decline as his protege (Colin Ferrell) is on the rise, while he struggles with alcoholism and a romantic relationship with a younger woman (Maggie Gyllenhaal).

Great reaction guys, I laughed at this more than I have in years. You said the story took a backseat, but I've heard it described as the story trying to form around the dude's chaotic life, but failing miserably.

Got assigned to see this in the theater for a college film class. Best homework ever!

Where have you guys been?!? Glad you’re back.

The rewatchability of this movie is off the charts. My favorite trope is how The Dude picks up little words or sayings from other characters throughout the whole movie, and then uses them as his own words later in the movie. It’s like it’s the first time he’s ever heard of these words/phrases before and he thinks to himself “that’s a cool saying, man. I think I’ll use it now”

Apparently the best part of waking up is donny in your cup

When you watch it again (and you will), look for Donnie's "Oh, no, here we go again" expression as he carefully stands up and sneaks out of frame as Walter tells Smokey he is "entering a world of pain."

damn right about cursing, youtube! I feel that! the fuck ARE they talkin' about?:)

When dude told that corny joke to start, I swear he looked like Matthew Lilliard at the end of Scream! "Peer pressure..." 😜

A classic and a hilarious, epic movie. It is the movie that "made" Jeff Bridges, pretty sure to this day he still gets approached and a fan quotes a line from this movie, as they should. I realized Walter kinda was like a mix of Alan and Marshall, who he ended up portraying in the 3rd Hangover movie. Awesome reaction dudes

Hope you guys can do more Cohen bros. Raising Arizona and O Brother where art thou are also great

As a fellow Brother Shamus, I like pointing out, Dude never even got his rug back lol.

You mentioned that the plot sort of takes a backseat in this movie, Cam, and that's by design. A number of people have pointed out that "The Big Lebowski" is sort of an homage to noir detective films and stories such as "The Big Sleep," "The Maltese Falcon," etc. What people haven't mentioned is that the Coens were riffing on the convoluted, rambling, impossible to follow plots in those old detective movies and the fact that the inherent nihilism at the center of that genre often resulted in nothing that happened in the story meaning anything or changing anything. Protagonists just ended up right back where they started, just like the Dude does in this movie. Throughout the movie, nothing that happens has any lasting or important effect: The Dude and Walter mess up the ransom drop, and nothing comes of it. The nihilists (included as a nod to the nihilism of the noir detective genre) threaten Lebowski repeatedly, and nothing really comes of it (other than Donnie dying during the fight, but he's not even killed by the nihilists; he has a heart attack). The Big Lebowski was attempting to steal a million dollars from his family by faking a ransom drop and getting his trophy wife killed, but Bunny comes back and nothing really comes of it. The whole scene with the kid, Larry Sellers, goes nowhere and isn't actually tied to the plot. There's a big bowling tournament that's talked about constantly, and yet we never see it. The whole scene with Jackie Treehorn (the pornographer) doesn't really amount to anything. Maude gets pregnant and then is just gone from the movie and the Dude's life. Etc., etc. And, in the end, the Dude ends up back in the bowling alley, abiding, just as he was doing at the beginning of the movie. The circular nature of life is another aspect of the movie that they really leaned on, and you see symbolism in the form of round or circular objects throughout the movie: bowling balls, the tumbleweed, etc. (the tumbleweed also serves as a handy metaphor for the way the Dude moves through life). The Coens have done interviews where they've broken down all that stuff and it makes for interesting reading. Also, I've heard it mentioned that one of the ideas of the movie is "What if a story was trying to form around a protagonist but he wasn't really interested in taking part?" The Dude gets forced into all these situations in the movie but, ultimately, he doesn't really care about the central mystery. He just wants his rug replaced and everyone - the story included - to leave him alone so he can go back to getting stoned, bowling, and being the Dude.

"You must be here to fix the cable".

Apparently the Coen Brothers wrote every word, including the ums & ahs & Jeff played it perfectly, wearing his own comfy clothes. Before every scene, he would find out how stoned the Dude was supposed to be & rub his eyes according to the desired redness. If you havent reacted to The Coen Brothers before, there are loads for you to enjoy, including Fargo (movie) Oh Brother Where Art Thou & Burn After Reading.

i remember when this came out in the theatre. Nobody cared or talked about it. no buzz until it came out on DVD.

The Big Lebowski is a comedic noir film. It has all the elements: a femme fatale, a crime that isn't what it seems on the surface, a bunch of criminals each trying to double-cross the others, and an innocent man drawn into the middle of it. Maude (Julianne Moore) had a mid-Atlantic accent. This accent used to be taught to the children of the rich in the northeastern U.S., and was used on film and on stage to depict the upper classes. Katharine Hepburn had this accent. It was common in films in the 30s and 40s, but no one talks that way any more. One thing I love about the Coen Brothers is that even their bit characters are memorable. The two thugs who break into The Dude's apartment, Smokey, Little Larry Sellers, the funeral director, the cop at the impound yard, are all shown as individual people.

Maybe one of the most quoted movies ever…second to Monty Python’s Holy Grail of course.

I'm so sad you were talking during the part where Walter says, "You want a toe? Hell, I can get you a toe by 3:00 this afternoon". 😂😂😂

Jeffery Lebowski is a pasifist hero.

Every side character in this movie is very earnest in their story, the main character is completely uninterested in any of it. An incredibly original way to write a movie.

If Maude wants to get knocked up by some random deadbeat, maybe don't choose someone who lives in the same town you do and has your same rare last name...?

Hidden underneath, this film is a Detective Noir. A Private Investigator must interview a number of shady characters in the underbelly of a city, with false leads and double crosses, to solve a crime. 😯

40:30 yeah, spot-on. The plot gets more and more convoluted…but then we realize none of that really matters. Has these complex Chandler/Leonard-ish twisting situations & hidden motivations that get harder to keep track of…but then you realize it doesn’t matter and it’s just the comedic ‘ride’ of this laidback guy trying to navigate it lol

Making a good reaction video is not easy, especially when you're young because you have less experience by definition. But this was a really good reaction video.

This may be the #1 film of all time that demands, and rewards, multiple viewings. The Coen Brothers are brilliant scriptwriters and damn near every nuance in voice, each gesture, every single word is exactly how they write it. This movie above all their other excellent films has so many metaphors, within double meanings, within adaptation from one character early in the film to become the syntax of others, within... it goes on and on and it is all hilarious for its own reasons. Watch this one many times you'll be amazed at how that one little rug tied the entire film together, by intent.

Jesus’ job in the film is to put Walter in check, otherwise Walter is an unstoppable chaotic force but Jesus backs him down which shows his vulnerability.

7:00 It’s the guy from the “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” Christmas special

Every time you watch this movie it gets funnier and better. It is normal for movie lovers to watch this one over and over.

Finally a reaction to the ashes I’ve been waiting for. I fucking lost it on that part the first time I saw it. Just Dude standing there defeated, like “Fuck it.. this might as well happen now..” I probably never laughed so hard at anything in a movie that I had to wipe tears. Thank you Cam.

The comedy is gold but understand that the Coens packed the movie full of eccentric people and had the dude react to them all, from artsy Maud to the creepy porn guy to the stern cop to Jesus to Bunny to the nihilists to the guy in the iron lung and his son, etc. It gets crazier and the Dude just takes it in stride. It is dripping with absurdity and the fact that except for Donny dying and the rug being ruined, nothing really changes in the Dude's life. It's a movie of randomness and quirkiness

You pick up new things every time you watch it. example: the giant scissors in the dream is from a painting in Maude's house.