Before long, the Dude is dealing with a bunch of freaks, including German nihilists, porn king Jackie Treehorn (Ben Gazzara) and Lebowski's kooky, brittle daughter Maude (Julianne Moore). After so many Sixties/Seventies types have apologized for their misspent youth, it was refreshingly brazen for the directors, the Coen brothers, to treat this character as a generation's touchstone. And it's still fun to see this Venice Beach lazybones confront the overachieving Pasadena Lebowski. Bridges hits a note of casual presumption and doesn't let the plutocrat ruffle him. The world might not owe the Dude a living, but it does owe him a decent rug.
Here's the thing: The film takes place 18 years ago, at the time of the Gulf War. The film became a cult event only during the Second Gulf War. Could its surge in popularity be traced to a stoned, passive-aggressive form of rebellion?
Judging from DudeFest-meister Plehn, the answer is: Well, maybe. Plehn wasn't nuts about the movie when he saw it in a theater but rediscovered it on TV. He and some friends organized a screening at Hogan's Alley bar in Locust Point, played some music with musician pals before the film, and ended the night with bowling. The Patterson, though, offered a place where Lebowski fans could do it all.
"Without getting too heavy," Plehn writes, "the movie's strength comes from the diversity of the characters and their philosophies. ... The Dude is not a go-getter, but he's got strong moral values and is a loyal friend. The Dude's nemesis, Jeffrey Lebowski or the Big Lebowski, is seen as ... a self-absorbed, vain man."
But fans love it mostly for its inspired bits, such as the way Vietnam vet Walter Sobchak expresses disdain for nihilists by comparing them unfavorably to Nazis, who at least, he declares, had "an ethos"; in an American movie first, he yells "Shomer Shabbos!" at the top of his lungs to announce that he strictly observes the Hebrew Sabbath. Or any number of things John Turturro does as a crazed bowler and convicted pedophile who is apparently Hispanic but pronounces his name, "Jesus," with a hard J. Or the Dude pumping like a stoned drum major to "Just Walked In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)."
In fact, Bridges simply does the funniest slovenly-stoner slapstick ever.
In traditional shaggy-dog stories, the shagginess comes in the punch line. In this one, thanks to Bridges, the shaggy dog is smack in the center of things.
If you go
DudeFest! The Big Lebowski Tribute Party starts at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Creative Alliance at the Patterson, 3134 Eastern Ave. Tickets are $12-$15. Call 410-276-1651 or go to creativealliance.org.
