The Big Lebowski

The Big Lebowski () is a 1998 crime comedy film written, directed, produced and co-edited by Joel and Ethan Coen, and starring Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Julianne Moore, Steve Buscemi and John Turturro. It follows the life of Jeffrey "The Dude" Lebowski, a Los Angeles slacker and avid bowler who is assaulted as a result of mistaken identity, then learns that a millionaire who shares the same name was the intended victim.

The film is loosely inspired by the work of Raymond Chandler. Joel Coen stated, "We wanted to do a 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." The original score was composed by Carter Burwell, a longtime collaborator of the Coen brothers.

The Big Lebowski was produced by Working Title Films and distributed by Gramercy Pictures in the United States and Canada and by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment internationally. It received mixed reviews at the time of its release. Reviews have since become largely positive and the film has garnered a cult following, noted for its eccentric characters, comedic dream sequences, idiosyncratic dialogue and eclectic soundtrack. In 2014, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant."

Plot

In 1991, slacker and bowler Jeffrey "The Dude" Lebowski, is attacked in his Los Angeles home by two enforcers for porn kingpin Jackie Treehorn, to whom a different Jeffrey Lebowski's wife owes money. One enforcer urinates on the Dude's rug before they realize they have the wrong man, and leave.