Jeff Bridges plays The Dude, an unemployed slacker who loves bowling, marijuana, and White Russian cocktails. A case of mistaken identity and a soiled rug leads him to a cantankerous wheelchair-bound millionaire played by David Huddleston who shares his birth name, Jeffrey Lebowski. Soon afterwards, he is caught up in a kidnapping plot and asked to secure the release of The Big Lebowski's trophy wife Bunny, played by Tara Reid - which is made complicated by the involvement of The Dude's short-tempered best friend Walter Sobchak, played by John Goodman.
I can't go into any more detail without spoiling it. What follows is a meandering journey with an array of wacky side characters - including The Dude and Walter's bowling rival Jesus Quintana, played by John Turturro. Sam Elliott plays The Stranger, who narrates the film but thinks it's a western. He even makes an appearance in the middle of it. But I think the most compelling character is The Dude himself. It's actually quite touching that he doesn't have much of a life, yet he's content with what he has.
The film is by and large a mystery, but there's some slapstick, a couple of surreal dream sequences, and some of the funniest lines delivered by a well-picked cast.
All I can really say is "The Dude abides."
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