FILM ESSAY PAPER 2 CRITIQUE AND REVIEW DUE IN 24 HOURS

Film Essay #2

The Big Lebowski (1998)

Collin Brink

ARTH 334

Professor Tom Fallows

For my second paper I decided to watch the film The Big Lebowski (1998) starring Jeff Bridges and John Goodman while directed by Ethan and Joel Coen. This is a comedy film set in the 90’s where the main character, The Dude, played by Jeff Bridges, is mistaken for the wrong Lebowski and caught in the middle of a ransom scam.

I have always heard good things about this film and that I should watch it. I never did because I prefer to watch newer films rather than older ones. This film was surprisingly good, and I laughed a bunch throughout. I do not think I have ever seen Jeff Bridges in a comedy before, so it was interesting seeing the change from his more serious roles. When I saw this film was a “sports” comedy about bowling I thought it would be dumb. I found myself completely wrong and enjoyed the few bowling scenes.

Starting with the cinematography in this film, I think there was some unique shots that I would like to focus on. One of the first unique shots I saw was towards the beginning when The Dude passes out. In his dream he starts flying over the city chasing a magic carpet and the camera pans/tracks them. The shot, as well as the editing, was good here and was a fun scene to watch. When this scene ended, The Dude fell from the sky into a black pit and then woke up. I noticed they used a fade-to-black/dissolve transition a decent number of times to switch between scenes. Another scene where the editing and camerawork was unique was during a dream montage. The Dude was drugged causing him to blackout and see crazy things inside his dream. During this time the camera used unique shots like being inside a bowling ball as it rolled down a lane and struck the pins. This gave the audience a comedic aspect as the bowling ball was rolling towards a miniature version of The Dude as he was running from it. This film also used a lot of tracking shots to follow the bowling balls down the lanes and hit the pins. This allowed the audiences to be more engaged on the bowling scenes as it added some action into an otherwise boring scene.

Looking at the sound of this film I think they incorporated some great things. I really like how Sam Elliott narrated a few parts and even met The Dude at the bar for conversations. This allowed audiences to understand certain scenes a little better as Sam was describing why something was happening. Another time sound was used that stood out to me was in the beginning when the intruders urinate on The Dude’s rug. You can hear the guy urinating and it is a little bit cringey but at the same time gives a serious scene a somewhat comedic factor. Because this is a bowling movie, I think it was important they incorporated authentic bowling noises like the clashing of pins and the rolling of balls to get the scenes a more realistic factor. Lastly, I think the telephone The Dude carried around with him had a somewhat significant role. After they lost the money and the phone rang, The Dude did not pick it up. This left the viewer sitting there watching as the phone awkwardly rang with no one answering. I think this helped show how scared The Dude was and had no idea what to do.

I really enjoyed and liked the characters in this film, especially John Goodman’s character Walter. He plays a retired army soldier who served in Vietnam and constantly references it throughout the film at terrible timings. I think he has one of the funniest characters in this film and anytime I saw him in a scene I knew it was going to be good. I really enjoyed how Steve Buscemi’s character Donny was mistreated. Walter constantly berated and yelled at him which was super funny. I think the overall plot of the movie was decent. The big thing I did not like was the fact you never really understood who the actual robbers were and some of the plot holes. The actual robbers showed up out of nowhere and the characters did not reference them, leaving the audience a little confused. Then at the end they just appear and are confronted and taken care of and then you never hear about them again. I also felt like they left a bunch of things open like the fact of what happens after they figure out it is all a scam. The female returns and they call the actual Lebowski out for lying, but then they leave his residence with no further conclusion. I was confused and would have liked to see a closing to that part of the film.

I think a conclusion I could draw on the director, Ethan Coen, not seeing any of his other films, is that he likes to use obscure and different camera angles. An example of this is in one of the scenes I previously talked about where he had a camera inside the bowling ball as it rolled down a lane. I do not think I have ever seen this before. I think Ethan probably likes to do a lot of fade-outs and dissolve transitions as well just based off the amount in this film. Looking at a main character, Jeff Bridges, I would say he is a “serious” actor. Although this film is a comedy and a lot of his scenes are funny, he still portrays himself as a serious person in the scenes. I think this is beneficial as it does not make scenes feel “corny”. I have seen a few other films with him as well and he always seems like a very serious guy. My overall impression on this film was very good. I think for its time, which was not too long ago, they did a great job with everything. I was surprised on the number of big actors in the film and think they worked together nicely to enhance the quality of the film.

Overall, this film was very enjoyable and funny. It takes a lot for me to laugh during a movie as much as I did but this film got me. I think the director had an excellent use of sound, camera techniques, and overall editing. I would recommend this film to anyone who wants a good laugh and a decent storyline.

My Criteria for Quality in Film

1. A movie is much more entertaining with a lot of action.

2. Sound and music is extremely important in determining the outcome of certain scenes.

3. An actor either makes or breaks a character and past film roles could play a role into that.

4. Films follow a logical flow and transfer of scenes.

5. Editing and transitions are clear and do not leave the audience confused on what happened.

6. Plots are clear and easily understandable.

7. Special effects can help enhance a scene but too much can ruin it.

8. Lighting allows the audience to clearly see what is happening in the scene

9. Camera angles vary and multiple different shots are used throughout the film to ensure it is not stagnant.

10. Colors are used to highlight important objects from non-important ones.