3. The Big Lebowski
Falling in the middle of the Coen spectrum between ludicrous farce and serious drama, The Big Lebowski is quite simply the story of "The Dude", one of the greatest and unlikeliest anti-heroes ever to grace the silver screen. However, it should be noted that by the time the movie's over, we're not quite sure if the Dude could even be classified as an anti-hero or if he's just some buffoon who casually bumbles his way from one sticky situation to the next. A satire of Hollywood life and its bizarre detachment from reality, The Big Lebowski also plays as a stylized film noir turned upside down on its head. When two strangers break into the Dude's house demanding money and proceed to defile his rug, a rug that "really tied the room together", we embark on a journey so bizarre and so convoluted that it has to be seen to be believed.
Featuring elaborate dream sequences, eccentric porn producers, feminist nude artists, German nihilist musicians, and an endless array of offbeat characters and peculiar situations, this is by far the Coen brothers' zaniest and most imaginative work, definitely their funniest, and perhaps their most entertaining. Jeff Bridges plays the the iconic role of a lifetime with "The Dude", a bowling enthusiast who pays for 69 cent cartons of milk with a check. Lazy, ignorant, generally incompetent, and constantly high, all the Dude wants is to get a new rug and move on to the next round of the local bowling tournament. Instead, he finds himself prey to the advances and demands of countless other parties, including his crazy Vietnam war veteran sidekick Walter (played by Coen favorite John Goodman), who garners some of the movie's biggest laughs. One wonders how much of the Coen brothers' actual experiences in the jungle of Hollywood made it into this picture as we venture into what is truly a surreal world where anything can happen and we can only take comfort in one fact: The Dude abides.
Set in 1987 (Coen films tend to be set in a specific year), Fargo opens in an almost fairytale-like
fashion as we are introduced to our setting of Fargo, North Dakota: a town where everyone talks funny and people are willing to do just about anything for
a little bit of money. Jerry Lundegaard, a desperate down on his luck car
salesman, hires two men to kidnap his own wife and force his frugal
father-in-law to pay the ransom. But a
plan that seemed so simple and straightforward quickly falls apart. Nothing
special so far but Fargo is the quintessential film to see the magic of the
Coen Brothers at work. Where in other hands a film with such a set up would be
a predictable and unremarkable by the numbers affair, the Coens’ version shines
time and time again.
The Coens take the farcical elements that are their calling
card and throw them into a pitch black world full of betrayal, murder, and shocking
indifference. None of the characters seem stale or overly familiar; they all
have their unique idiosyncrasies and personalities. Lundegaard, a meek and seemingly well-intentioned
father and husband, deceives customers on a daily basis and risks destroying
his family to get what he wants. And in
what is a great example of the Coens’ refusal to follow typical Hollywood
conventions, the lead police officer investigating the kidnapping isn’t a grizzled
alcoholic veteran or a dashing muscle-bound rookie, but a simple, folksy
pregnant woman. Frances McDormand, Joel’s wife and yet another Coen regular,
exudes an easygoing gentleness and studious decisiveness as Police Chief Marge Gunderson.
And it’s Marge who grounds this film and gives proceedings their moral center.
Her character’s journey parallels that of Sheriff Bell (No Country For Old Men) in many respects, and her ability to separate the horrors she
witnesses from her safe and tranquil home life is admirable and touching. A
great film indeed, but only one film can be number one.
Yet Again, To Be Continued...
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