monkeyblog.

Working late at night in a grocery store deli hidden deep within the San Fernando Valley, you see a wide range of colorful characters that very loudly parade through the automatic doors.. 

You got your haggling housewives, your hangdog househusbands, your bums, nannies, grandmas, etc.. 

But once in a while… ya get a stoner.. of whom i can relate to the most.. 

One night as i was sweeping up the department, a young guy in about his mid-twenties stumbles into the store wearing a brown terrycloth robe, sweatpants and flip-flops. His giant, blond, white-boy fro was somewhat lassoed back by a pair of aviator sunglasses.. 

He seemed kind of in a hurry and disappears into one of the aisles.. i laugh to myself, sweep up the pile and shove it into the trash, when i look back and see that he is standing in line at checkstand #1 with two 40-oz. bottles of mgd.. 

And all i can think of is THE BIG LEBOWSKI (1998, Joel Coen).. 

The film follows a few days in the life of Jeffrey “The Dude” Lebowski (Jeff Bridges), a burned-out, unemployed Californian slacker. It is early 1991, and The Dude is ambushed by two thugs in his home in Venice, CA., mistaking him for a millionaire with the same exact name.. 

After the thugs rough up the Dude and urinate on his rug, which, in the words of the Dude and his friends, “really tied the room together,” the Dude points out that they’re looking for a different person of the same name. The next day, the Dude seeks compensation for his rug from the other Jeffrey Lebowski, the titular “Big” Lebowski, a wheelchair-bound millionaire, and is met with a gruff refusal. After craftily stealing one of the Big Lebowski’s rugs, the Dude meets Bunny Lebowski (Tara Reid), the Big Lebowski’s nymphomaniacal trophy wife on his way off the property.. 

Days later, the Big Lebowski contacts the Dude, revealing that Bunny has been kidnapped and asks him to act as a courier for the million-dollar ransom, the Dude being in the unique position of being able to identify the rug-soiling thugs, the suspected kidnappers. Back at his apartment, the Dude naps on his new, stolen rug, only to have his apartment burgled again, the criminals knocking him unconscious. Following a musical dream sequence, the Dude wakes up on his bare wooden floor, his new rug missing. Soon after, when Bunny’s kidnappers call to arrange the ransom exchange, Walter Sobchak (John Goodman), the Dude’s unstable friend and bowling teammate, convinces the Dude to keep the money and gives the kidnappers a “ringer” suitcase filled with dirty tighty-whitey underwear. The exchange is bungled however and the kidnappers escape, at which point they decide, “Fuck it, let’s go bowling..”

Later that night, the Dude’s car is stolen, along with the briefcase filled with money. The Dude receives a message from the Big Lebowski’s daughter, Maude (Julianne Moore), who admits to stealing the Dude’s rug which he stole from the “Big” Lebowski’s home, as it has sentimental value for her. At her art studio, she explains that Bunny is a porn starlet working under producer Jackie Treehorn and confirms the Dude’s suspicion that Bunny probably kidnapped herself. She asks the Dude to recover the ransom, as it was illegally withdrawn by her father from a family-run charitable foundation for orphans, offering him a finder’s fee in exchange for his services.. 

The Big Lebowski angrily confronts the Dude over his failure to hand over the money. The Dude claims that he made the pay-off as agreed, but the Big Lebowski responds by handing the Dude an envelope sent to him by the kidnappers which contains a severed toe, presumably Bunny’s.. 

The Dude is enjoying a relaxing bath when he receives a message that his car has been found. Mid-message, three German nihilists invade the Dude’s apartment, identify themselves as the kidnappers, and interrogate and threaten him for the ransom money. The Dude returns to Maude’s studio, where she identifies the German nihilists as Bunny’s friends and pornographic co-stars. The Dude picks up his car from the police, and based on evidence he finds in the front seat, he and Walter track down the supposed thief, who turns out to be a stubborn teenager. Upon returning home without any clue about the whereabouts of the ransom money, Jackie Treehorn’s thugs return to bring the Dude to Treehorn’s beach house in Malibu, where Treehorn inquires about the whereabouts of Bunny. When the Dude confesses he has no such information, Treehorn drugs the Dude’s drink and he passes out, leading to a second, more elaborate dream sequence, starting as the opening credits of a movie named “Gutterballs”.. 

Upon awakening once again, the Dude finds himself in a police car and then in front of the sheriff of Malibu, who berates him for coming to Malibu and ruining the peace. The Dude arrives home and is greeted by Maude Lebowski, who hopes to conceive a child with him.. 

During post-coital conversation with Maude, the Dude finds out that, despite appearances, her father has no money of his own, as Maude’s late mother was the rich one, and she left her money exclusively to the family charity. In a flash, the Dude unravels the whole scheme: When the Big Lebowski heard that Bunny was kidnapped, he used it as a pretense for an embezzlement scheme, in which he withdrew the ransom money from the family charity, kept it for himself, gave an empty briefcase to the Dude (who would be the fall guy on whom he pinned the theft), and was content to let the kidnappers kill Bunny.. 

Meanwhile, it has by now become clear that the kidnapping was itself a ruse. While Bunny took an unannounced trip, the nihilists (her friends) alleged a kidnapping in order to get money from her husband. (It is left unclear whether and to what extent Bunny was an active collaborator in this scheme). The Dude and Walter arrive at the Big Lebowski residence, finding Bunny back at home, having returned from her trip. They confront the Big Lebowski with their version of the events, which he counters but does not deny. The affair apparently over, the Dude and his bowling teammates are once again confronted by the nihilists, who have set the Dude’s car on fire. They are still demanding the million dollars, despite the fact that the Dude does not have the money and Bunny has not even been kidnapped. Walter viciously fights them off, biting and severing an ear out of one of them, but their third teammate, Donny (Steve Buscemi), suffers a fatal heart attack. They take his ashes to a beach, where Walter offers a lengthy eulogy complete with Vietnam War references. He scatters Donny’s ashes, but a gust of wind blows much of the ashes onto the Dude’s face.. 

Upset, the Dude lashes out at Walter. Walter apologizes and hugs the Dude, before suggesting, “Fuck it, man. Let’s go bowling.” As the movie nears its end, the Dude sums up his situation and philosophy with the phrase, “The Dude abides”.. 

Oh shit!!.. i fucking failed to mention the Jesus!!.. 

But anyways, you should rent this shit and check it out for yourself… 

This is one of the best and UNDER-APPRECIATED movies by the Brothers Coen.. 

so ’til next time, homies.. 

end of line..