“The Dude abides” (The Big Lebowski)

In my recent “Master and Commander” post mentioned that I might post a list of movies that I will “pretty much always end up watching if I’m channel flipping.”  I found that it was really hard for me to just pull up those movies from my memory banks, so what I have decided is to make the subject an on-going theme and post the movies as they happen in real time.

First entry:  “The Big Lebowski”  I love this movie.  A couple of nights ago I was channel flipping and came upon TBL at about two thirds in where Jackie Treehorn (Ben Gazzara) has the Dude waylaid and brought to his Malibu digs.  Eventually Treehorn slips mind-tripping drugs into the Dude’s drink, which leads to us taking the head-trip right along with the Dude.  That trip just makes me laugh my ass off every time I watch it.  It is Coen brothers genius on display, with everything from Buzby Berkeley dancers with fans made out of bowling pins to Jeff Bridges turning into a human projectile flying down a bowling lane wearing the greatest stoner face you’ll ever see. 

Of course I hung in to the end, savoring John Goodman’s insanely volatile Vietnam vet, and digging on Steve Buscemi’s portrayal of the Dude’s timid bowling companion (Donny).  My only regret was that I didn’t come in soon enough to see the hilarious John Turturro bit as Jesus Quintana, an opponent of The Dude's team in the bowling league semifinals.  If you haven’t seen that segment you are missing out on a brilliant comedic tour de force.

I’ll end with what the Dude says in closing, then echoed by Sam Elliott (“The Stranger” and narrator):  “The Dude abides.”  Amen.