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Lebowski is a proud man with a lot of money who’s so busy trying to protect what he has that he never gets around to enjoying it. He’s no less pathetic than Walter, despite his pedigree. Some fare better than others, but every character in this story is just a poor schmuck trapped in a comedy of errors. It’s a terrible mess that started with a rug and each time someone tries to fix it, things get worse because they’re reacting to things that aren’t really there. This results in kidnapping, embezzlement, girls in small bikinis, guys with big guns, bowling, one cardiac arrest and someone loses an ear.

But what’s missing is real momentum. The Big Lebowski is very well cast and it’s filled with colorful characters, humorous situations and dialogue so subtly amusing you don’t even realize how funny it is until hours later. But this is true of any Coen film. What’s equally true is that these characters bounce around the story like pinballs, providing lots of light and sound and color but little real activity. And if you’ve ever played pinball you know that at the end of the game no matter how you played, the balls end up right back where they started. It was a lot of fun but if you think about it, was little more than a pointless activity that happens to improve your skill at pointless activities. At the end of The Big Lebowski it feels much the same. Nobody’s problems really get solved, but nobody’s life really changes because of it, either.

Maybe the key to enjoying The Big Lebowski can be found in The Dude’s approach to life in general. Don’t try to follow what’s going on. You will naturally absorb at your own pace whatever it is you need to know. Hang out, fix yourself a drink and have a good time watching everyone else have a bad time. Laugh when you feel you should and if you walk away from it with nothing, that’s okay too because at least it was something to do. Make the right choice, make the wrong choice, but just make a choice. Like a good game of pinball it doesn’t have to mean anything after it’s over but the memories should always make you smile. And I just can’t think of The Big Lebowski without smiling. The Dude abides.

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