The latest comedy from the Coen brothers, the boys that brought you Fargo, is a hoot.  The Big Lebowski stars Jeff Bridges as the film's namesake who is known simply as "The Dude"  and a host of the usual actors found in Coen movies:  John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, and John Turturro.

    The story is absurd and rather slight - this movie is all about providing a forum where the odd characters can be themselves.  The Dude's apartment is vandalized (he pees on his rug - and this rug really tied the room together) by a goon who has mistaken him for a millionaire who shares his name.  The Dude demands compensation from said millionaire who refuses but then hires him to deliver a ransom for his young trophy wife, Bunny.  The Big Lebowski has some surreal sequences featuring hysterically funny musical numbers.  These scenes usually follow The Dude getting knocked over the head by one of the various zany goons populating the landscape.  Nicer than Fargo, The Big Lebowski serves up a slice of Americana:  low-rent bowlers in L.A. who are still reeling from all the pot they smoked in the 70's and today.  And where else but a Coen brothers movie would you see a guy, I mean The Dude, lighting a roach clip and downing a beer while driving along in L.A. in these P.C. times we live in.

    Jeff Bridges does a great job playing the amiable loser Lebowski:  a guy whose main activities are bowling and downing White Russians.  Goodman is also excellent as his uptight buddy Walter (still reliving his days in Vietnam) who gets so pissed when someone puts their toe over the line during tournament play that he pulls out his piece.  Julianne Moore (Boogie Nights) also puts in an amusing performance as Maud Lebowski, the millionaire Lebowski's daughter.

If you're a Coen Brothers fan, you'll have fun seeing The Big Lebowski.  So Gigi says, to use bowling parlance, let's roll!