Jeff Bridges, John Goodman and Julianne Moore in the Coen Brothers movie ‘The Big Lebowski’

Joel Coen and Ethan Coen were inspired by the work of Raymond Chandler to write and direct the movie The Big Lebowski (1998). As older brother Joel Coen was quoted in an archived article of IndieWire referenced here, the Coen Brothers “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.”

(From left, Jeff Bridges as Jeffrey ‘The Dude’ Lebowski, Steve Buscemi as Theodore Donald ‘Donny’ Kerabatsos and John Goodman as Walter Sobchak in the Coen Brothers movie The Big Lebowski).

Slacker and bowler Jeffrey ‘The Dude’ Lebowski, as portrayed by Jeff Bridges, opens The Big Lebowski as the victim of a crime in his own Los Angeles, California home. Pornography magnate Jackie Treehorn, as portrayed by Ben Gazzara, sends two enforcers after Lebowski to collect on the debts incurred by what the enforcers believe is the Dude’s wife. It’s only after harassing the Dude and damaging his property that the enforcers realize they’ve found the wrong Jeffrey Lebowski.

(From left, Philip Seymour Hoffman as Brandt and David Huddleston as Jeffrey ‘The Big’ Lebowski in the Coen Brothers movie The Big Lebowski).

The appropriate man is, of course, Jeffrey ‘The Big’ Lebowski as portrayed by David Huddleston. After discussing the matter with bowling buddies Walter Sobchak and Theodore Donald ‘Donny’ Kerabatsos, as portrayed by John Goodman and Steve Buscemi respectively, the Dude confronts the Big at the Big’s mansion. The affluent Jeffrey abusively dismisses his slacker namesake in response to a request for restitution. Before encountering Bunny Lebowski as portrayed by Tara Reid when departing the mansion, the Dude uses trickery to convince Brandt as portrayed by Philip Seymour Hoffman to allow him, that is Dude, to take property from the mansion as recompense for the Dude’s trouble.

(From left, Julianne Moore as Maude Lebowski and Tara Reid as Bunny Lebowski in the Joel Coen and Ethan Coen movie The Big Lebowski).

Extending the comedy of absurdity further, Bunny is soon considered kidnapped. The affluent Lebowski hires the Dude to rectify that situation with a briefcase reportedly full of money. Franz, Uli Kunkel and Kieffer, as portrayed by Torsten Voges, Peter Stormare and Flea retrieve the property taken by the Dude owing to the fond feelings that Maude Lebowski, as portrayed by Julianne Moore, has for that property.

(From left, Torsten Voges as Franz, Peter Stormare as Uli Kunkel & Karl Hungus and Flea as Kieffer in the Joel Coen and Ethan Coen movie The Big Lebowski).

In addressing the supposed kidnapping, absurd craziness ensues at the behest of Jeffrey ‘the Big’ Lebowski through the hands of Walter Sobchak. The exchange of money for the life goes horribly wrong, with the money getting stolen at the bowling alley later that night. As the comically absurd sequence extends further, we encounter Jesus Quintana as portrayed by John Turturro and The Stranger as portrayed by Sam Elliott for commentaries regarding different aspects of the story that unravels in front of us. The insinuation of Maude Lebowski at seemingly odd times and in bold ways through the unfolding of the mystery adds to the theatre of comedy that this movie presents.

(Sam Elliott as The Stranger in the Joel Coen and Ethan Coen movie The Big Lebowski).

Through the episodic and humorously explicit charm of the wild scenes of the movie, the expressively lighthearted way the Dude abides the comedy of what happens around him proves to be the charm that makes the movie work. Jeff Bridges really pulls off the feel good comedy of that part with skill. I grant The Big Lebowski as written and directed by the Coen Brothers 4.0-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.

Matt – Wednesday, November 29, 2023

The X-Men movie ‘Logan’ entertained this reviewer

Logan (2017) is the latest foray into the X-Men movie universe, having been released in March of 2017. The movie is as emotionally mature as any movie in the franchise, in this reviewer’s humble opinion, surpassing the original X-Men (2000) and X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) in this regard. Rating well among critics and audiences alike, if you enjoy action movies coupled with a compelling story that tells a compelling conclusion to compelling characters, you could do much worse than the story offered by Logan.

(Hugh Jackman)

Hugh Jackman reprises his role as Wolverine, or Logan, as the namesake of the movie Logan. We encounter an aged Logan in Mexico as a limousine driver and caretaker to the mentally and physically deteriorating Charles Xavier, played by Patrick Stewart. Logan and Charles are clearly suffering from health issues. Charles has Alzheimer’s Disease, though we never learn of the illness of Logan. Both took medicine to keep their symptoms under what semblance of control can be had.

(Patrick Stewart)

Feeling morally corrupted for hunting mutants before the beginning of Logan, the character Caliban has taken to supporting and hiding out with the very mutants he once pursued. Portrayed by Stephen Merchant, Caliban tries to confront Logan on the source of his disease. He (Caliban) had aimed to help Logan, if only Logan would trust in the friendship that Caliban attempts to offer.

(Stephen Merchant)

Boyd Holbrook plays the antagonist pursuing the three mutants we’ve met already in this review, namely Logan, Charles Xavier, and Caliban. As Pierce, Holbrook forwards the agenda of ridding the world of mutants while a cabal of his friends assist him in this work and other dastardly plans. Part of those plans include the continued experimentation on the child Logan never knew he had, namely Laura.

(Boyd Holbrook)

Laura is played by Dafne Keen, a child less than 13-years-old in the movie who appears to Logan in Mexico seeking safe travel with Logan to North Dakota and then on to Canada. It was Keen’s fluency in Spanish and English that helped land her a role as Laura. Charles Xavier knows of Laura being Logan’s child. Charles finds a way to communicate with the apparently mute Laura. It isn’t until after much traveling, and some unfortunate circumstances befalling Caliban and Charles that we learn Keen can talk.

(Dafne Keen)

The film Logan is filled with action and the kind of fighting scenes that would attract many action film fans. Much of the action bears away from the traditional X-Men fighting into territories of intense hand-to-hand combat. That there is the expected X-Men flare of Wolverine-style action from Laura, Logan, and younger variants of Logan do not disappoint.

There were thoughts of Terminator 2 that came to mind with the Spanish language dialogue, the Mexican border action, and the prolonged indestructibility of Logan. This part struck true to much of the Logan / Wolverine character  that we came to know throughout the series of X-Men movies. This is also true of much of the self-loathing and ambivalent dysfunction between Logan, Charles, and Laura.

The terminal outcome for characters who were critical to the X-Men series in Logan provided a degree of satisfying finality and closure; mostly the outcomes for the characters of Professor Charles Xavier and Logan are the ones I mean.

The movie Logan felt like a parting chapter in a way that was true to their larger narrative while not compromising the story that preceded it. In a sense, a fitting tribute for carrying on their legacy with another generation of characters was a seed we’re also planted.

I came away satisfied with the story told by Logan. If you had some doubt about watching a movie series based on comic book characters, let me say that there are plenty of choices of lesser caliber than X-Men. Consider the X-Men series, with Logan last, if ever you would be so inclined.

My appreciation here for the direction and writing for James Mangold. I further appreciated the added writing efforts of Scott Frank.

Matt – Friday, February 9, 2018