Greatest Film Scenes
and Moments



The Big Lebowski (1998)

 



Written by Tim Dirks

Title Screen
Movie Title/Year and Scene Descriptions
Screenshots

The Big Lebowski (1998)

In this quirky Coen Brothers stoner comedy - a Philip Marlowe-style LA neo-noir:

  • the opening assault by two debt-collector thugs (Mark Pellegrino) and Chinaman Woo (Philip Moon), who alleged that bearded hippie, pot-smoking, slacker, unemployed slob Jeffrey 'The Dude' Lebowski (Jeff Bridges) in his Venice Beach (California) bungalow owed them money: ("Don't f--k with us! Your wife owes money to Jackie Treehorn. That means you owe money to Jackie Treehorn") - they roughed him up and then Woo peed on the Dude's favorite carpet: ("No, no, don't do that! Not on the rug, man"), but then after realizing he was the wrong individual took off: ("He looks like a f--kin' loser...F--king time wasted. Thanks a lot, asshole")
  • the Dude's commiseration with his bowling buddies, uptight nutcase Vietnam war veteran Walter Sobchak (John Goodman) and ex-surfer Donny (Steve Buscemi), about his ruined, valued rug ("Yeah, man, it really tied the room together") that was peeded upon by a Chinaman
  • the scene in which The Dude, wearing shorts and a T-shirt, complained and demanded compensation from wheel-chair bound philanthropist, Pasadena, CA millionaire Jeffrey 'The Big' Lebowski (David Huddleston), his namesake, for the mistaken attack by two hoods (due to a mix-up of addresses for "Lebowski"), that were really targeting Mr. Lebowski's indebted wife
  • the Dude's introduction of himself to "The Big" Lebowski: ("You're Mr. Lebowski. I'm the Dude. So that's what you call me. You know, uh, that or, uh, His Dudeness, or uh, Duder, or uh, you know, El Duderino if you're not into the whole brevity thing")
  • Mr. Lebowski's employment advice to the laid-back Dude - who briefly answered: "Oh, F--k it!" and left: ("My wife is not the issue here! I hope that someday my wife will learn to live on her allowance, which is ample, but if she does not, that is her problem, not mine, just as the rug is your problem, just as every bum's lot in life is his own responsibility, regardless of who he chooses to blame. I didn't blame anyone for the loss of my legs. Some Chinaman took them from me in Korea. But I went out and achieved anyway. I cannot solve your problems, sir, only you can....Yes, that's your answer. That's your answer to everything. Tattoo it on your forehead. Your revolution is over, Mr. Lebowski! Condolences! The bums lost! My advice to you is to do what your parents did! Get a job, sir! The bums will always lose! Do you hear me, Lebowski?! The bums will always lose!")
  • on his way out of the Lebowski estate, the Dude's meeting up with the millionaire's sexy young trophy wife Bunny (Tara Reid), a free-spirited nymphomaniac, and one of the porn stars of sleaze king mobster Jackie Treehorn (Ben Gazzara), who offered the Dude: ("I'll suck your cock for $1,000 dollars")
  • the scene of living erotic art exhibited by Mr. Lebowski's estranged daughter Maude Lebowski (Julianne Moore), an eccentric, super-stoic, avante-garde feminist artist, who delivered a "vagina monologue": ("Does the female form make you uncomfortable, Mr. Lebowski?...My art has been commended as being strongly vaginal, which bothers some men. The word itself makes some men uncomfortable. Vagina....Yes, they don't like hearing it and find it difficult to say, whereas without batting an eye, a man will refer to his dick or his rod or his Johnson")
  • the Dude's fantasy musical dream sequence of bowling called 'Gutterballs' after being slipped a mickey in his White Russian cocktail by Jackie Treehorn - filled with images including the Viking Queen, Saddam Hussein, and bowling
  • the bowling alley scene in which competitive, flamboyant Latino bowler Jesus Quintana (John Turturro) threatened: "Nobody f--ks with the Jesus..."
  • the other scary scene at the bowling alley in which the Dude's bowling buddy Walter told rival bowler Smokey (Jimmie Dale Gilmore) that he had committed a minor infraction of bowling league rules by fouling over the line - accompanied by gun-wielding threats: "You're entering a world of pain" and "Mark it zero"
Bowler Jesus Quintana: "Nobody f--ks with the Jesus..."
Walter: "You're entering a world of pain"
'The Dude' Scattering Donny's Ashes
  • the scene of the scattering of Donny's cremated ashes (in a Folger's coffee can), who had suffered a fatal heart attack, with Walter's rambling eulogy: ("Donny was a good bowler and a good man. He was one of us. He was a man who loved the outdoors and bowling. And as a surfer, he explored the beaches of Southern California, from La Jolla to Leo Carrillo and up to Pismo. He died, he died, as so many men of his generation, before his time. In your wisdom, Lord, you took him, as you took so many bright, flowering young men at Khe Sanh, at Lan Doc, and Hill 364. These young men gave their lives. So did Donny. Donny who loved bowling. And so, Theodore Donald Karabatsos, in accordance with what we think your dying wishes might well have been, we commit your final mortal remains to the bosom of the Pacific Ocean, which you loved so well. Good night, sweet prince"); however, the breeze blew the ashes back - and all over the Dude's face


The Theft of the Dude's Rug: "No, no, don't do that! Not on the rug, man"

The Dude's Bowling Buddies: Walter and Donny


The Dude with Mr. Lebowski: "You're Mr. Lebowski. I'm the Dude"

Mr. Lebowski's Nympho Wife Bunny (Tara Reid)

Mr. Lebowski's Estranged Daughter Maude
(Julianne Moore)


Gutterballs Dream Fantasy

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