![DBTropes DBTropes](/static/logo.png)
...it's like TV Tropes, but LINKED DATA!
The Big Lebowski
- 1173 statements
- 229 feature instances
- 254 referencing feature instances
The Big Lebowski | type |
TVTItem | |
The Big Lebowski | label |
The Big Lebowski | |
The Big Lebowski | page |
TheBigLebowski | |
The Big Lebowski | comment |
The Big Lebowski is a 1998 Cult Classic directed by The Coen Brothers. It's a bit hard to describe, but let's call it a Film Noir parody.Jeff Bridges stars as a lazy and useless slacker named Jeffrey Lebowski, who prefers to be known as "The Dude". One night, a pair of thugs break into his house, dunk him in the toilet, and pee on his rug, mistaking him for a local millionaire, also named Jeffrey Lebowski (David Huddleston, the eponymous "Big" Lebowski). Said millionaire, who denies compensation for the aforementioned rug, ends up recruiting the Dude to help in the negotiations for his kidnapped wife, Bunny (Tara Reid), and that's when the plot takes off.This being a Coen Brothers movie, though, the plot isn't important. The driving force within the movie is the collection of various, bizarre, main and secondary (and tertiary!) characters, almost all of whom seem to come from completely different movies.Despite being a disappointment at the box office and initially getting a mixed reception from critics, The Big Lebowski has become one of the biggest cult classics in modern film history, to the point that it has a yearly festival dedicated to it, both in America and England. Critics nowadays also look upon it far more kindly as a modern comedy classic.In 2019, John Turturro reprised his role and directed a spinoff called The Jesus Rolls, a Foreign Remake of 1970s French film Les Valseuses. | |
The Big Lebowski | fetched |
2024-03-16T08:01:31Z | |
The Big Lebowski | parsed |
2024-03-16T08:01:31Z | |
The Big Lebowski | processingComment |
Dropped link to ASimplePlan: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
The Big Lebowski | processingComment |
Dropped link to AffectionateParody: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
The Big Lebowski | processingComment |
Dropped link to AnAesop: Not a Feature - IGNORE | |
The Big Lebowski | processingComment |
Dropped link to BartonFink: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
The Big Lebowski | processingComment |
Dropped link to BloodSimple: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
The Big Lebowski | processingComment |
Dropped link to Bowdlerise: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
The Big Lebowski | processingComment |
Dropped link to Branded1965: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
The Big Lebowski | processingComment |
Dropped link to ByWallThatIsHoley: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
The Big Lebowski | processingComment |
Dropped link to CreedenceClearwaterRevival: Not a Feature - IGNORE | |
The Big Lebowski | processingComment |
Dropped link to Fanservice: Not a Feature - IGNORE | |
The Big Lebowski | processingComment |
Dropped link to Fargo: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
The Big Lebowski | processingComment |
Dropped link to FiddlerOnTheRoof: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
The Big Lebowski | processingComment |
Dropped link to JuliusCaesar: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
The Big Lebowski | processingComment |
Dropped link to Kraftwerk: Not a Feature - IGNORE | |
The Big Lebowski | processingComment |
Dropped link to RedHotChiliPeppers: Not a Feature - IGNORE | |
The Big Lebowski | processingComment |
Dropped link to ShaggyDogStory: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
The Big Lebowski | processingComment |
Dropped link to StonerFlick: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
The Big Lebowski | processingComment |
Dropped link to TheNightOfTheHunter: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
The Big Lebowski | processingComment |
Dropped link to TheWestern: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
The Big Lebowski | processingComment |
Dropped link to UpinSmoke: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
The Big Lebowski | isPartOf |
DBTropes | |
The Big Lebowski / int_10134c97 | type |
Artistic License – Gun Safety | |
The Big Lebowski / int_10134c97 | comment |
Artistic License – Gun Safety: Walter is a walking example of this trope, despite supposedly serving in Vietnam, and presumably having been trained in gun handling. Notable examples include threatening someone else with a Colt M1911A1, and, in doing so, racking the slide with his finger on the trigger. There is also the incident with the disguised Uzi submachine gun while Walter and the Dude were trying to make the handoff at the bridge. And yet, when Walter's done holding someone at gunpoint over an alleged bowling foul, he unloads the pistol by removing the magazine and then racking the slide to clear the chamber. Even so, rather than point it in a safe direction while doing this, he instead points it at half of the people in the bowling alley. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_10134c97 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_10134c97 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_10134c97 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_10dcbe05 | type |
Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other | |
The Big Lebowski / int_10dcbe05 | comment |
Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: The absurd fiasco of Donny's funeral improbably turns into pathos as a regretful Walter gives the Dude a hug, which the latter grudgingly accepts. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_10dcbe05 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_10dcbe05 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_10dcbe05 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_1282bf4f | type |
No Celebrities Were Harmed | |
The Big Lebowski / int_1282bf4f | comment |
No Celebrities Were Harmed: Jeff Dowd is apparently the Dude in real life with the Seattle Seven, White Russian fixation, and general laid-back stoner attitude. Walter was partially based on the director, screenwriter, and gun enthusiast John Milius, who is a good friend of the Coen Brothers. Jackie Treehorn appears to be based, in part, on adult entertainment kingpins Larry Flynt and Hugh Hefner. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_1282bf4f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_1282bf4f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_1282bf4f | |
The Big Lebowski / int_1305f045 | type |
Vanity License Plate | |
The Big Lebowski / int_1305f045 | comment |
Vanity License Plate: Bunny's says LAPIN. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_1305f045 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_1305f045 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_1305f045 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_13b7c384 | type |
Pizza Boy Special Delivery | |
The Big Lebowski / int_13b7c384 | comment |
Pizza Boy Special Delivery: Watching Logjammin'. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_13b7c384 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_13b7c384 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_13b7c384 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_157822af | type |
Shrine to Self | |
The Big Lebowski / int_157822af | comment |
Shrine to Self: The eponymous "Big" Lebowski has one. The Dude is given a guided tour. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_157822af | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_157822af | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_157822af | |
The Big Lebowski / int_158bb31a | type |
You Can Keep Her! | |
The Big Lebowski / int_158bb31a | comment |
You Can Keep Her!: How Lebowski really feels about his wife getting kidnapped, and the reason why he feels no qualms pocketing the ransom money and setting the Dude up to take the fall. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_158bb31a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_158bb31a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_158bb31a | |
The Big Lebowski / int_1592e954 | type |
Man Bites Man | |
The Big Lebowski / int_1592e954 | comment |
Man Bites Man: Walter bites one of the Nihilists' ears off during their final confrontation. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_1592e954 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_1592e954 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_1592e954 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_17fe1048 | type |
Naked on Arrival | |
The Big Lebowski / int_17fe1048 | comment |
Naked on Arrival: We're introduced to Maude Lebowski as she's swinging from a harness completely naked while squirting paint on a canvas. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_17fe1048 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_17fe1048 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_17fe1048 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_18d15922 | type |
Title Drop | |
The Big Lebowski / int_18d15922 | comment |
Title Drop: Towards the end, The Dude refers to the other man as "The Big Lebowski" | |
The Big Lebowski / int_18d15922 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_18d15922 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_18d15922 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_1a47a6a7 | type |
Chronically Crashed Car | |
The Big Lebowski / int_1a47a6a7 | comment |
The various acts of violence done to The Dude's car, culminating in the nihilists setting it on fire at the end. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_1a47a6a7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_1a47a6a7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_1a47a6a7 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_1af2b763 | type |
Celebrity Resemblance | |
The Big Lebowski / int_1af2b763 | comment |
Celebrity Resemblance: In the bowling montage at the beginning of the movie, the guy cleaning the bowling shoes looks a little bit like Saddam Hussein. Later, during a drug trip sequence, he is Saddam, suggesting that the Dude is aware of the resemblance. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_1af2b763 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_1af2b763 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_1af2b763 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_1b65dfad | type |
The Cameo | |
The Big Lebowski / int_1b65dfad | comment |
The Cameo: Aimee Mann appears briefly as the fourth member of the Nihilist gang, who donates a toe to be sent to the Big Lebowski with the claim that it is one of Bunny's. Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea is the Nihilist who gets his chest caved in by Walter's bowling ball. Comedian Dom Irrera plays Maude's limo driver, he even performs a portion of his "I can't complain!" routine. Porn star Asia Carrera has an uncredited cameo in the Logjammin' sequence. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_1b65dfad | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_1b65dfad | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_1b65dfad | |
The Big Lebowski / int_1bcfe069 | type |
Absurdism | |
The Big Lebowski / int_1bcfe069 | comment |
Absurdism: One of the more triumphant modern-day examples, full of offbeat comedy and convoluted plot twists that turn out to signify nothing much in particular. The latter elements are one of several ideas cribbed from The Big Sleep, which the film is named after and to which it serves as a very loose homage. The film also shares some other aspects of the movement, including quirky, repetitive but still naturalistic dialogue and the portrayal of established institutions as empty and corrupt. The Dude himself can be and has been held up as something of an Anti-Nihilist hero: lazy, unmotivated, and bound to no higher purpose, but still kind, loyal, and open to endless possibilities. There's also the random swerve into a musical... | |
The Big Lebowski / int_1bcfe069 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_1bcfe069 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_1bcfe069 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_1c79ae8c | type |
Those Two Guys | |
The Big Lebowski / int_1c79ae8c | comment |
One of Those Two Guys working for Jackie Treehorn at one point smugly informs the Dude that "you're not dealin' with morons here." Yes, in fact, he is. As evidenced by the simple fact that in the very first scene they took forever to figure out that maybe the grungy hippy bachelor living in the dive wasn't a married millionaire. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_1c79ae8c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_1c79ae8c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_1c79ae8c | |
The Big Lebowski / int_1e7487cd | type |
Breaking the Fourth Wall | |
The Big Lebowski / int_1e7487cd | comment |
Breaking the Fourth Wall: The Stranger talks to the audience at the very end, looking right at the camera and finishing up with one last bit of narration. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_1e7487cd | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_1e7487cd | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_1e7487cd | |
The Big Lebowski / int_1e7c47ab | type |
Stealth Pun | |
The Big Lebowski / int_1e7c47ab | comment |
Stealth Pun: Bunny's license plate reads "LAPIN", which is French for "rabbit", or "bunny". | |
The Big Lebowski / int_1e7c47ab | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_1e7c47ab | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_1e7c47ab | |
The Big Lebowski / int_1f6983f7 | type |
Ambiguous Situation | |
The Big Lebowski / int_1f6983f7 | comment |
Ambiguous Situation: What The Big Lebowski's supposed role in the kidnapping ultimately amounts to. Although Dude's theory that Lebowski used Bunny's "kidnapping" as an excuse to embezzle money is very plausible, it's never outright confirmed by any of the related parties. The closest thing to any form of solid evidence is The Big Lebowski's reaction to Dude and Walter's accusation. He doesn't seem fazed nor does he even bother denying it, but instead simply counters with a "your word against mine" retort. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_1f6983f7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_1f6983f7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_1f6983f7 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_1fdaf8ff | type |
Ominous Latin Chanting | |
The Big Lebowski / int_1fdaf8ff | comment |
Ominous Latin Chanting: During the "What makes a man" scene, the Lacrymosa from Mozart's Requiem is playing. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_1fdaf8ff | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_1fdaf8ff | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_1fdaf8ff | |
The Big Lebowski / int_20a14df0 | type |
Wrong Genre Savvy | |
The Big Lebowski / int_20a14df0 | comment |
Wrong Genre Savvy: The Dude thinks all the various threads he uncovers must figure into the big mystery at the center of the plot. They don't. The narrator thinks the film is a Western. It isn't. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_20a14df0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_20a14df0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_20a14df0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_21321e38 | type |
Gleeful and Grumpy Pairing | |
The Big Lebowski / int_21321e38 | comment |
Gleeful and Grumpy Pairing: The Dude, a sanguine, laid back and optimistic slacker, and Walter, a gruff and mean veteran with a Hair-Trigger Temper. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_21321e38 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_21321e38 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_21321e38 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_222969af | type |
All There in the Script | |
The Big Lebowski / int_222969af | comment |
All There in the Script: In an early draft of the script, The Dude's source of income was revealed. He was an heir to the inventor of the Rubik's Cube. It was Joel Coen's idea to drop this and never say. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_222969af | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_222969af | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_222969af | |
The Big Lebowski / int_222dc873 | type |
Black Comedy | |
The Big Lebowski / int_222dc873 | comment |
Black Comedy: One of the blackest. Even Walter's eulogy/funeral for Donny ends up being hilarious. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_222dc873 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_222dc873 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_222dc873 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_22cfbf14 | type |
Answers to the Name of God | |
The Big Lebowski / int_22cfbf14 | comment |
Answers to the Name of God: The Jesus certainly does. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_22cfbf14 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_22cfbf14 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_22cfbf14 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_23330a99 | type |
Immediate Self-Contradiction | |
The Big Lebowski / int_23330a99 | comment |
Immediate Self-Contradiction: | |
The Big Lebowski / int_23330a99 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_23330a99 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_23330a99 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_237404cc | type |
Ironic Echo | |
The Big Lebowski / int_237404cc | comment |
Ironic Echo: The Dude, having turned the tables on The Big Lebowski: "Where's the fucking money, Lebowski?" | |
The Big Lebowski / int_237404cc | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_237404cc | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_237404cc | |
The Big Lebowski / int_24321e44 | type |
Only Sane Man | |
The Big Lebowski / int_24321e44 | comment |
Only Sane Man: The Dude. Despite being a Lazy Bum, he's the most level-headed of the main characters, and the one with the clearest understanding of what's really going on (sort of). | |
The Big Lebowski / int_24321e44 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_24321e44 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_24321e44 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_24b88e85 | type |
Unwanted Assistance | |
The Big Lebowski / int_24b88e85 | comment |
Unwanted Assistance: Walter, "helping" with the ransom, much to the Dude's complete and utter annoyance. invoked | |
The Big Lebowski / int_24b88e85 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_24b88e85 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_24b88e85 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_269c2c35 | type |
TechMarchesOn | |
The Big Lebowski / int_269c2c35 | comment |
Tech Marches On: Nowadays, bowling alleys have automated scoring, and fouls would register automatically, so Walter's tirade would not happen... in the same way; Walter being the kind of guy who argues even against machines, would contest it somehow: I saw what I saw. Faulty sensor. Edit the score to zero. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_269c2c35 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_269c2c35 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_269c2c35 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_26bccc6e | type |
Ash Face | |
The Big Lebowski / int_26bccc6e | comment |
Ash Face: The Dude's face gets covered in ash after Walter ends up pouring out Donny's ashes in the wrong direction. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_26bccc6e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_26bccc6e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_26bccc6e | |
The Big Lebowski / int_26eb6287 | type |
Funny Background Event | |
The Big Lebowski / int_26eb6287 | comment |
Funny Background Event: While the Dude and Walter bicker in the car after Walter pulled a gun on Smokey, you can see cops pull into the lot and run into the bowling alley in response to the incident being called in. What makes this funnier is that the Dude and Walter's conversation makes it clear they played an entire game that took at least an hour, perfectly reflecting California cops' tendencies towards taking their sweet time. You can also see Bunny, presumably as high as a weather balloon on drugs, happily prancing around naked outside in the background while the Dude and Walter confront Brandt on their way to see Lebowski. When Walter and the Dude talk, Donny remains in the background but still "participates" in the scene with Facial Dialogue alone, usually the vivid and amusing kind. When Walter pulls a gun, Donny promptly stands up and puts some safe distance between him and the unfolding events. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_26eb6287 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_26eb6287 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_26eb6287 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_270ed8b8 | type |
Candlelit Bath | |
The Big Lebowski / int_270ed8b8 | comment |
Candlelit Bath: The Dude takes one while smoking a joint to relax, which seems to help. His mood improves further when the police leave the Dude a message that his stolen car has been found. But it's shortly ruined by the nihilists and their "marmot" (actually a ferret). | |
The Big Lebowski / int_270ed8b8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_270ed8b8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_270ed8b8 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_284c5733 | type |
Deranged Taxi Driver | |
The Big Lebowski / int_284c5733 | comment |
Deranged Taxi Driver: The Dude complains about the Eagles playing in the taxi taking him home from Malibu; the cab driver responds with a Cluster F-Bomb and throws him out on the side of the road. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_284c5733 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_284c5733 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_284c5733 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_294ed981 | type |
Bilingual Bonus | |
The Big Lebowski / int_294ed981 | comment |
Bilingual Bonus: More often than not, the lyrics of the Gipsy Kings' version of the already surreal "Hotel California" are weird or make little sense in Spanish. The song tries so hard to be literal that it becomes a Translation Train Wreck. A very fitting theme for this kind of movie. The car that Bunny drives has a license plate that reads "LAPIN", which is bunny in French. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_294ed981 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_294ed981 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_294ed981 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_29ad1d69 | type |
Facial Dialogue | |
The Big Lebowski / int_29ad1d69 | comment |
When Walter and the Dude talk, Donny remains in the background but still "participates" in the scene with Facial Dialogue alone, usually the vivid and amusing kind. When Walter pulls a gun, Donny promptly stands up and puts some safe distance between him and the unfolding events. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_29ad1d69 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_29ad1d69 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_29ad1d69 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_2bfabe7 | type |
Trespassing to Talk | |
The Big Lebowski / int_2bfabe7 | comment |
Trespassing to Talk: The two thugs in the beginning wait for the Dude in his apartment. He discovers them via a Lightswitch Surprise. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_2bfabe7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_2bfabe7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_2bfabe7 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_2cac316e | type |
Absurdly Ineffective Barricade | |
The Big Lebowski / int_2cac316e | comment |
Absurdly Ineffective Barricade: The Dude suffers multiple home invasions and, getting kinda sick of it, starts to nail a piece of wood to the floor and props a chair between it and the door. It is immediately revealed that the door opens outwards instead of inwards. And later in the film, he trips over it. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_2cac316e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_2cac316e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_2cac316e | |
The Big Lebowski / int_2e032e41 | type |
Latin Lover | |
The Big Lebowski / int_2e032e41 | comment |
The Jesus mashes up Latin Lover comedies with being the Opposing Sports Team personified. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_2e032e41 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_2e032e41 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_2e032e41 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_2e8875f0 | type |
Misplaced Retribution | |
The Big Lebowski / int_2e8875f0 | comment |
Misplaced Retribution: Twice in the same scene. Walter assumes the new Corvette in front of a house belongs to Larry, who Walter thinks stole the $1 million (he didn't), so he smashes it with a crowbar. It turns out to belong to Larry's neighbor, who takes the crowbar and starts smashing The Dude's car, which The Dude quickly points out doesn't belong to Walter. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_2e8875f0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_2e8875f0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_2e8875f0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_2f2e3cfe | type |
Interrogation by Vandalism | |
The Big Lebowski / int_2f2e3cfe | comment |
Interrogation by Vandalism: This is the reason The Dude's rug gets pissed on at the beginning of the movie. Also, the "You see what happens, Larry!?" scene. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_2f2e3cfe | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_2f2e3cfe | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_2f2e3cfe | |
The Big Lebowski / int_2f665172 | type |
Come Alone | |
The Big Lebowski / int_2f665172 | comment |
Come Alone: Immediately defied by Walter forcing his way into the Dude's car, much to his (and the kidnappers') consternation and panic. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_2f665172 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_2f665172 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_2f665172 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_2fd1d68a | type |
Cool-Down Hug | |
The Big Lebowski / int_2fd1d68a | comment |
Cooldown Hug: Walter gives one to the Dude to stem the Dude's fury after Donny's ashes fly in his face. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_2fd1d68a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_2fd1d68a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_2fd1d68a | |
The Big Lebowski / int_30575a1d | type |
I Am Not Shazam | |
The Big Lebowski / int_30575a1d | comment |
I Am Not Shazam: "I am not Mr. Lebowski. Okay? You're Mr. Lebowski. I'm The Dude. So that's what you call me." invoked | |
The Big Lebowski / int_30575a1d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_30575a1d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_30575a1d | |
The Big Lebowski / int_316595d6 | type |
Sensational Staircase Sequence | |
The Big Lebowski / int_316595d6 | comment |
Sensational Staircase Sequence: During his Dream Sequence, The Dude stars in "Gutterballs" and briefly swaggers his way down a glittering staircase. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_316595d6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_316595d6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_316595d6 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_340e75cb | type |
Writing Indentation Clue | |
The Big Lebowski / int_340e75cb | comment |
Writing Indentation Clue: Subverted; the Dude is in a conversation with Jackie Treehorn when the latter receives a call, writes down something on a notepad, tears off the notepad, and excuses himself. The Dude, in full sneaky investigator mode, grabs the notepad and shades it with the side of a pencil to highlight the impression made on the next sheet of paper. It turns out to be an anatomically exaggerated picture of a man and his...manhood. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_340e75cb | featureApplicability |
-0.3 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_340e75cb | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_340e75cb | |
The Big Lebowski / int_350ba560 | type |
Pedal-to-the-Metal Shot | |
The Big Lebowski / int_350ba560 | comment |
Pedal-to-the-Metal Shot: A shot of Bunny operating the pedals of her car on the way back from visiting her friends is used as a reveal shot to show that neither of her feet were actually harmed at any point. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_350ba560 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_350ba560 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_350ba560 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_35a858b3 | type |
Cluster F-Bomb | |
The Big Lebowski / int_35a858b3 | comment |
Cluster F-Bomb: In total, there are 292 uses of the word "fuck" in the film. Lampshaded by the Stranger. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_35a858b3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_35a858b3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_35a858b3 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_35e4fe72 | type |
Fakin' MacGuffin | |
The Big Lebowski / int_35e4fe72 | comment |
Fakin' MacGuffin: "It's my dirty undies. Laundry, the whites." | |
The Big Lebowski / int_35e4fe72 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_35e4fe72 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_35e4fe72 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_3856d429 | type |
Shear Menace | |
The Big Lebowski / int_3856d429 | comment |
Shear Menace: During The Dude's unconscious fever dream, he's chased by Karl Hungus and his nihilist cronies, all carrying massive shears (a call back to when they threatened to "cut off [his] johnson"), which promptly sends him running and brings him back to reality, running down a Malibu street with cops approaching. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_3856d429 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_3856d429 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_3856d429 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_392372f9 | type |
Actor Allusion | |
The Big Lebowski / int_392372f9 | comment |
Actor Allusion: Mixed with Mythology Gag and Production Posse: Detective Da Fino, the PI hired to find Bunny Lebowski and played by Jon Polito, expresses his admiration of The Dude's apparent playing one side against the other throughout the movie. In Miller's Crossing, Jon Polito plays a mob boss who is victim to and absolutely hates a double-cross. Walter's oft-repeated line "shut the fuck up Donny!" is precisely written because Buscemi's character wouldn't shut up in Fargo. John Turturro played a paederast in a play called Mi Puta Vida, which the Coens said directly inspired his character here. Walter's home security business works under the slogan "Peace of Mind". In Barton Fink, John Goodman's character says he sells peace of mind. Peter Stormare's character sits in the diner with the group of nihilists and all of them order pancakes. His character in Fargo was very insistent on getting pancakes as well. Jeff Bridges wears the same baseball t-shirt in The Fisher King. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_392372f9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_392372f9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_392372f9 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_3946634e | type |
The Smart Guy | |
The Big Lebowski / int_3946634e | comment |
The Smart Guy: The Stranger. Is Older and Wiser than the other characters, but acts like he belongs in a completely different movie and couldn't even keep his fauxlosophy straight. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_3946634e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_3946634e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_3946634e | |
The Big Lebowski / int_39eba631 | type |
The Slacker | |
The Big Lebowski / int_39eba631 | comment |
The first thing His Dudeness The Slacker is shown doing is shopping for half-and-half in his robe, tasting it in the store, then paying for it by writing a check for 69 cents. On further analysis, the check is postdated. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_39eba631 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_39eba631 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_39eba631 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_3c0a4666 | type |
Noodle Incident | |
The Big Lebowski / int_3c0a4666 | comment |
Noodle Incident: In-universe; we know how the Dude got bruised by the Malibu Chief of Police but he never finishes explaining to Maude. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_3c0a4666 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_3c0a4666 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_3c0a4666 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_3cb68bd3 | type |
Cut His Heart Out with a Spoon | |
The Big Lebowski / int_3cb68bd3 | comment |
Cut His Heart Out with a Spoon: The Jesus' extremely flamboyant threat to our heroes: shoving Walter's pistol up his ass "until it goes click. YOU GOT A DATE WEDNESDAY, BABY!" | |
The Big Lebowski / int_3cb68bd3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_3cb68bd3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_3cb68bd3 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_3d2c6d30 | type |
Skewed Priorities | |
The Big Lebowski / int_3d2c6d30 | comment |
Skewed Priorities: When Maude Lebowski's limo driver is forcefully pulling The Dude to The Big Lebowski's limo (after the drop-off), Dude warns the guy, "Careful, man! There's a beverage here!" | |
The Big Lebowski / int_3d2c6d30 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_3d2c6d30 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_3d2c6d30 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_3eee0728 | type |
Captain Obvious | |
The Big Lebowski / int_3eee0728 | comment |
The narrator thinks the film is a Western. It isn't. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_3eee0728 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_3eee0728 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_3eee0728 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_40cc0c7e | type |
Bittersweet Ending | |
The Big Lebowski / int_40cc0c7e | comment |
Bittersweet Ending: The Stranger argues for this right at the end of the movie. Donny is dead and the Dude and Walter will never be able to prove the Big Lebowski's guilt, meaning all they have to do now is contemplate their lives before the big game. And the Dude doesn't even get his rug back. However, we hear there's a little Lebowski on the way, albeit one that won't have the Dude's involvement in his upbringing. In addition, Big Lebowski gets traumatized by Walter for his swindle, the irritating nihilists won't harass the Dude anymore, and the Dude won't take the fall for Bunny's disappearance like the Big Lebowski planned. And, you know, come what may... "the Dude abides." | |
The Big Lebowski / int_40cc0c7e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_40cc0c7e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_40cc0c7e | |
The Big Lebowski / int_4192763e | type |
Malaproper | |
The Big Lebowski / int_4192763e | comment |
Malaproper: "Mr Treehorn treats objects like women, man!" Considering Treehorn mentions electronic innovations in erotic entertainment, this may be a subversion. On the filmmakers' part, at least. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_4192763e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_4192763e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_4192763e | |
The Big Lebowski / int_41c08e5 | type |
Establishing Series Moment | |
The Big Lebowski / int_41c08e5 | comment |
Establishing Series Moment: The film opens with a dramatic shot of Los Angeles following a tumbleweed to the tune of "Tumbling Tumbleweeds" by Roy Rogers & Sons of the Pioneers as Sam Elliott tries giving a dramatic, Western-style introduction to The Dude, only for him to lose his train of thought mid-sentence. This establishes the film's tone nicely, introducing a subverted genre film without a traditional narrative, a humble setting full of off-beat characters and a sarcastic sense of humor. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_41c08e5 | featureApplicability |
-0.3 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_41c08e5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_41c08e5 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_43a045de | type |
Dropped a Bridge on Him | |
The Big Lebowski / int_43a045de | comment |
Dropped a Bridge on Him: Donny's death is a deliberate subversion of the unwritten rule that nobody ever dies for random or plot-unimportant reasons in Film Noir, or really, any genre except weird comedies. "It's a heart attack." Though, considering the scene in which his death occurs, it may be a Double Subversion. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_43a045de | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_43a045de | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_43a045de | |
The Big Lebowski / int_43d612b7 | type |
Disney Acid Sequence | |
The Big Lebowski / int_43d612b7 | comment |
Disney Acid Sequence: The "Gutterballs" Busby Berkeley Number dream. And see about two minutes in for Between My Legs. Happens earlier, too, when Maude's goons knock The Dude out to take her rug back. It consists of him flying through the air above LA and following Maude on a flying carpet (the Persian rug that was just taken from him), then suddenly having a bowling ball in his hand and falling to Earth. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_43d612b7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_43d612b7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_43d612b7 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_443b78cd | type |
Tranquil Fury | |
The Big Lebowski / int_443b78cd | comment |
Tranquil Fury: After spending most of the movie exploding in bombastic rage at any slight real or imagined, it's when the nihilists demand the money that the Dude, Walter and Donny have on them in lieu of the ransom that Walter gets quietly, chillingly livid. This precedes his Let's Get Dangerous! moment. When Walter rants about the Vietnam War during his eulogy for Donny and follows up by scattering the ashes into Dude's face, Dude has a stone-faced response for a few seconds that is clearly brimming with fury. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_443b78cd | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_443b78cd | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_443b78cd | |
The Big Lebowski / int_4604fd4d | type |
Worthy Opponent | |
The Big Lebowski / int_4604fd4d | comment |
Worthy Opponent: Walter calls the Viet Cong this while talking about Vietnam, as opposed to his rather racist dismissal of Saddam Hussein's forces in Iraq. He also doesn't extend the same respect to the nihilists in the scene immediately after. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_4604fd4d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_4604fd4d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_4604fd4d | |
The Big Lebowski / int_474a2a5e | type |
Cultural Posturing | |
The Big Lebowski / int_474a2a5e | comment |
Cultural Posturing: Courtesy of Walter, who was not raised Jewish, but converted to Judaism for his (now ex-) wife. According to most Jewish theologians, he is at least an ideological inheritor of the religion and its traditions, but the Dude is unconvinced. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_474a2a5e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_474a2a5e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_474a2a5e | |
The Big Lebowski / int_47fea76b | type |
Butt-Monkey | |
The Big Lebowski / int_47fea76b | comment |
Butt-Monkey: Donny, even more so than the Dude. A Kindhearted Simpleton who is constantly betrated even by his own friends, and dies from a heart attack after the Final Battle with the Nihilists. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_47fea76b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_47fea76b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_47fea76b | |
The Big Lebowski / int_4fa54a7a | type |
Gratuitous Iambic Pentameter | |
The Big Lebowski / int_4fa54a7a | comment |
Maude's line "Little Lebowski Urban Achievers, and proud we are of all of them" is delivered in trochaic and then iambic tetrameter, both to hammer home how alien she is to the Dude and to catch the audience's ear, so we'll notice that she's about to reveal the plot twist. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_4fa54a7a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_4fa54a7a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_4fa54a7a | |
The Big Lebowski / int_500ecfb7 | type |
The Big Guy | |
The Big Lebowski / int_500ecfb7 | comment |
The Big Guy: Walter. A Fat Bastard whose Hair-Trigger Temper exasperates already bad situations. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_500ecfb7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_500ecfb7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_500ecfb7 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_50b05d30 | type |
Disproportionate Retribution | |
The Big Lebowski / int_50b05d30 | comment |
Disproportionate Retribution: Walter threatens to shoot Smokey after he tries to mark it eight when he was over the line. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_50b05d30 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_50b05d30 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_50b05d30 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_53224e46 | type |
Bookends | |
The Big Lebowski / int_53224e46 | comment |
Bookends: When The Dude first meets Maude, she is naked and covers herself up with a robe. The last time he sees her, she takes off a robe and gets naked with him. At the climax of the movie, The Dude says "Where's the money, Lebowski?" when confronting the Big Lebowski in the same way the Treehorn's goons said to him in the beginning. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_53224e46 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_53224e46 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_53224e46 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_535865be | type |
I Resemble That Remark! | |
The Big Lebowski / int_535865be | comment |
I Resemble That Remark!: | |
The Big Lebowski / int_535865be | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_535865be | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_535865be | |
The Big Lebowski / int_54428f7b | type |
Ashes to Crashes | |
The Big Lebowski / int_54428f7b | comment |
Ashes to Crashes: Walter misjudges the wind, and ends up pouring out the ashes from an urn all over the Dude. The Dude appears to be calm at first, but it ultimately becomes a rant-inducing slight. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_54428f7b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_54428f7b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_54428f7b | |
The Big Lebowski / int_54fb42f0 | type |
Gravity Is a Harsh Mistress | |
The Big Lebowski / int_54fb42f0 | comment |
Gravity Is a Harsh Mistress: The Dude has a flying dream which ends when he notices he's holding a bowling ball and promptly hurtles groundward. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_54fb42f0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_54fb42f0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_54fb42f0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_562abd51 | type |
Let's Get Dangerous! | |
The Big Lebowski / int_562abd51 | comment |
Let's Get Dangerous!: While Walter does seem less-than-stable throughout the movie, it's mostly in a bombastic and ineffective way that tends to make him less useful rather than more. At the very end in the confrontation with the nihilists, however, he demonstrates how effective he can really be. Although as the other two point out, they are only being shaken down for about twenty bucks (The Dude had $4 or $5, Donny had $18). | |
The Big Lebowski / int_562abd51 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_562abd51 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_562abd51 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_57980ca0 | type |
Smoking Hot Sex | |
The Big Lebowski / int_57980ca0 | comment |
Smoking Hot Sex: The Dude is seen smoking a joint after having sex with the titular character's daughter Maude. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_57980ca0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_57980ca0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_57980ca0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_581f6468 | type |
Hero of Another Story | |
The Big Lebowski / int_581f6468 | comment |
Hero of Another Story: Da Fino. The real Private Detective who follows The Dude under the assumption he's an investigator like him to return Bunny to her parents. The Dude only meets him face to face once. While not necessarily all being heroes, pretty much everyone the Dude encounters seems to have their own movie going on just off-screen, most of which are different genres — sometimes within the same 'film'. In addition to Da Fino, Jackie Treehorn and Bunny have a conflict going on over money that she owes him — he acts as if he's the powerful crime lord in a thriller, whereas her side of it is more some kind of "Country Mouse comes to town and falls into problems with sex and drugs" narrative, along with some pornography. Maude and the Big Lebowski have a conflict over the family businesses and embezzlement happening, with Maude also having her own kind of weird European art-film going on at the same time. With his bowling league, the Dude himself also has a sports film happening at the same time as the main film, along with Walter and Donny, which he's far more interested in and devoted to. Perhaps appropriately, however, we never get to see any of it, but we do get to meet the Opposing Sports Team in the form of Jesus Quintana. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_581f6468 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_581f6468 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_581f6468 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_59907e4f | type |
Police Are Useless | |
The Big Lebowski / int_59907e4f | comment |
Police Are Useless: It's implied that the LAPD show up only after an (at least half-an-hour) tournament after Walter nearly shoots a fellow bowler in the face. The cop who gives The Dude back his wrecked car, who suddenly turns into a condescending snarker when the Dude asks if they have any leads on who stole his car: | |
The Big Lebowski / int_59907e4f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_59907e4f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_59907e4f | |
The Big Lebowski / int_5a3b8032 | type |
The Un-Reveal | |
The Big Lebowski / int_5a3b8032 | comment |
The Unreveal: Did Walter and The Dude make it to the Finals? The movie ends right before their game starts, so we never find out. Is the Big Lebowski really disabled, or is he just highly committed to faking it? | |
The Big Lebowski / int_5a3b8032 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_5a3b8032 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_5a3b8032 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_5ac47fa6 | type |
Erudite Stoner | |
The Big Lebowski / int_5ac47fa6 | comment |
Erudite Stoner: Played With by The Dude. He admits to "the occasional acid flashback" and used to be politically active, but much of his sayings are random shit he overheard to sound more erudite, such as using "This aggression will not stand!" from Bush Sr.'s speech he heard while at the grocery store. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_5ac47fa6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_5ac47fa6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_5ac47fa6 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_5b565147 | type |
Meaningful Background Event | |
The Big Lebowski / int_5b565147 | comment |
Meaningful Background Event: Donny is seen holding his hand strangely and wincing as he moves it in the scene immediately preceding his heart attack. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_5b565147 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_5b565147 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_5b565147 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_5c3206a | type |
Ransacked Room | |
The Big Lebowski / int_5c3206a | comment |
Ransacked Room: The Dude's eternal curse - thugs breaking into his room and messing it up, or ruining something. Comes to a head when either Jackie Treehorn's thugs or the Nihilists finally smash up the Dude's house for good. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_5c3206a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_5c3206a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_5c3206a | |
The Big Lebowski / int_5ce2c9c6 | type |
Suddenly Shouting | |
The Big Lebowski / int_5ce2c9c6 | comment |
Suddenly Shouting: A couple of instances: And this one: | |
The Big Lebowski / int_5ce2c9c6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_5ce2c9c6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_5ce2c9c6 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_5f3bb274 | type |
Late-Arrival Spoiler | |
The Big Lebowski / int_5f3bb274 | comment |
Late-Arrival Spoiler: In-Universe, this is at least partially the reason Walter refuses to explain anything to Donny. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_5f3bb274 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_5f3bb274 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_5f3bb274 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_60194b82 | type |
Spanner in the Works | |
The Big Lebowski / int_60194b82 | comment |
Spanner in the Works: Nobody really anticipated The Dude and Walter's involvement in, well, anything. Not that it ends up mattering. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_60194b82 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_60194b82 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_60194b82 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_614a4e11 | type |
Do You Want to Copulate? | |
The Big Lebowski / int_614a4e11 | comment |
Do You Want to Copulate?: "Do you like sex, Mr Lebowski?" While Maude only asks the first question as a warmer, her showing up to the Dude's thrashed house with the command "Jeffrey. Love me." warms other things instead. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_614a4e11 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_614a4e11 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_614a4e11 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_61b576af | type |
I Take Offense to That Last One | |
The Big Lebowski / int_61b576af | comment |
I Take Offense to That Last One: | |
The Big Lebowski / int_61b576af | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_61b576af | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_61b576af | |
The Big Lebowski / int_6201e8b0 | type |
I Have Your Wife | |
The Big Lebowski / int_6201e8b0 | comment |
I Have Your Wife: Bunny, the millionaire Lebowski's wife is kidnapped. Or is she? In fact, it turns out that no, she isn't. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_6201e8b0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_6201e8b0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_6201e8b0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_62f9d08e | type |
Freeze-Frame Bonus | |
The Big Lebowski / int_62f9d08e | comment |
Freeze-Frame Bonus: When the Dude picks up Walter for the dropoff, one can clearly see Walter runs a store selling security equipment. Given his devout Judaism and very vocal hatred of Nazism, it's a little weird to see that the logo for Sobchak Security is a big "SS". In the beginning, when the Dude is in the supermarket writing a check for the carton of half and half, the date on his check is Sept 11. And President George Bush (the first one, though) is on TV talking about invading Iraq. This is all just a weird coincidence, though, since the movie came out a few years before the Twin Towers fell. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_62f9d08e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_62f9d08e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_62f9d08e | |
The Big Lebowski / int_63b02752 | type |
Hair-Trigger Temper | |
The Big Lebowski / int_63b02752 | comment |
After spending most of the movie exploding in bombastic rage at any slight real or imagined, it's when the nihilists demand the money that the Dude, Walter and Donny have on them in lieu of the ransom that Walter gets quietly, chillingly livid. This precedes his Let's Get Dangerous! moment. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_63b02752 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_63b02752 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_63b02752 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_641cf81d | type |
Viewers Are Geniuses | |
The Big Lebowski / int_641cf81d | comment |
Viewers Are Geniuses: Many examples. One prominent one is the joke about Saddam Hussein handing out bowling shoes in the dream sequence. Understanding the joke requires some knowledge of the first Gulf War, Arabic, and President Bush's well-known tendency for mispronouncing words. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_641cf81d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_641cf81d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_641cf81d | |
The Big Lebowski / int_643659d4 | type |
Spit Take | |
The Big Lebowski / int_643659d4 | comment |
Spit Take: After they have sex, the Dude watches Maude hugging her knees to her chest, rocking back and forth. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_643659d4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_643659d4 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_643659d4 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_64e975cf | type |
Manly Tears | |
The Big Lebowski / int_64e975cf | comment |
Manly Tears: "Do my tears surprise you? Strong men also cry, Mr. Lebowski. Strong men...also cry..." Possibly a subversion since you never see his tears, which may indicate that either he knows Bunny just went off on her own for a bit or he doesn't actually care about her. He sheds a few real ones when Walter tosses him to the floor, but by then we know he's not really a strong man anyway. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_64e975cf | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_64e975cf | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_64e975cf | |
The Big Lebowski / int_674fcb07 | type |
Signature Line | |
The Big Lebowski / int_674fcb07 | comment |
Signature Line: "The Dude Abides" is only said twice, but it quickly caught on with fans of the film. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_674fcb07 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_674fcb07 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_674fcb07 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_688238d6 | type |
Wimp Fight | |
The Big Lebowski / int_688238d6 | comment |
Wimp Fight: The nihilists talk a good game but are ultimately revealed to be this since Walter ends up handing them their asses more or less single-handedly over the course of about a minute. When the Dude confronts Da Fino, the actual Private Detective, things look they're going to get physical for a moment. And by 'physical', this means they don't actually make contact with each other but sort of flinch. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_688238d6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_688238d6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_688238d6 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_6b05b601 | type |
Jerkass Has a Point | |
The Big Lebowski / int_6b05b601 | comment |
Jerkass Has a Point | |
The Big Lebowski / int_6b05b601 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_6b05b601 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_6b05b601 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_6b2b3b59 | type |
The Reveal | |
The Big Lebowski / int_6b2b3b59 | comment |
The Reveal: There was no kidnapping plot and no ransom money. Bunny was just off visiting friends, and Lebowski pretended to have a million dollars given to the Nihilists, giving him a reason to withdraw money out of one of his 'charities' and get rid of two loose ends bothering him. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_6b2b3b59 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_6b2b3b59 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_6b2b3b59 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_6b35bdff | type |
Serious Business | |
The Big Lebowski / int_6b35bdff | comment |
Serious Business: Bowling, to everyone involved. Especially Walter. Walter, Donny and The Dude play in a league so hardcore, sticking a pistol in an opponent's face over a rules violation not only won't get you disqualified, but the foul will be upheld. The whole story is kickstarted by a petty feud over a soiled rug that really tied the room together. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_6b35bdff | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_6b35bdff | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_6b35bdff | |
The Big Lebowski / int_6bd689ca | type |
Meaningful Echo | |
The Big Lebowski / int_6bd689ca | comment |
Meaningful Echo: Except the joke lies in the echoes being meaningless, gratuitous and/or random. Several quotes or words are recycled over the course of the so-called story. Bush the Elder's speech about "unchecked aggression" is paraphrased later by Walter and The Dude regarding the rug-related invasion, which will not stand. The Dude adds Maude's "in the parlance of our times" line to his "young trophy wife" when he is summoned again by The Big Lebowski. The only example of a phrase that gets more rather than less powerful by being repeated comes near the end: "Where's the fuckin' money, Lebowski?" | |
The Big Lebowski / int_6bd689ca | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_6bd689ca | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_6bd689ca | |
The Big Lebowski / int_6ccba96b | type |
Talking in Bed | |
The Big Lebowski / int_6ccba96b | comment |
Talking in Bed: Maude and the Dude have a talk in bed after their roll in the hay. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_6ccba96b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_6ccba96b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_6ccba96b | |
The Big Lebowski / int_6d7bc0f | type |
Fake Band | |
The Big Lebowski / int_6d7bc0f | comment |
Fake Band: Autobahn, the extremely obscure '70s synth-pop band that Uli and his nihilist friends were in, is loosely based on Kraftwerk and takes its name from Kraftwerk's best-known album. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_6d7bc0f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_6d7bc0f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_6d7bc0f | |
The Big Lebowski / int_6d9bc945 | type |
Babies Ever After | |
The Big Lebowski / int_6d9bc945 | comment |
Babies Ever After: "I happen to know that there's a Little Lebowski on the way." Weirdly subverted, though, since Maude makes it clear that she wants nothing to do with the Dude after the child is born, and just wanted him to impregnate her so she wouldn't have to run into the father of her child everywhere she went. It Makes Just As Much Sense In Context. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_6d9bc945 | featureApplicability |
-0.3 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_6d9bc945 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_6d9bc945 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_6dcbe9aa | type |
Deconstructive Parody | |
The Big Lebowski / int_6dcbe9aa | comment |
Deconstructive Parody: Of the Film Noir genre and detective stories in general. The "detectives" are made up of a stoner, a 'Nam obsessed lunatic, and a random friend of theirs who is forcibly kept out of the plot. It's actually perfectly in line with most noir, though, that solving the mystery doesn't bring the guilty parties to justice. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_6dcbe9aa | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_6dcbe9aa | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_6dcbe9aa | |
The Big Lebowski / int_7040b6bc | type |
Understatement | |
The Big Lebowski / int_7040b6bc | comment |
Understatement: "He has health problems." | |
The Big Lebowski / int_7040b6bc | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_7040b6bc | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_7040b6bc | |
The Big Lebowski / int_7089d02e | type |
All Germans Are Nazis | |
The Big Lebowski / int_7089d02e | comment |
All Germans Are Nazis: The Jewish convert Walter automatically assumes that the Germans are Nazis and that nothing ever changes. When the Dude insists that they're nihilists, Walter notes that that would be worse, since "say what you want about the tenets of National Socialism, at least it's an ethos." In the end, though, he calls one of the Nihilists an antisemite, so he apparently hasn't given up on the idea. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_7089d02e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_7089d02e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_7089d02e | |
The Big Lebowski / int_722b3319 | type |
Camp Gay | |
The Big Lebowski / int_722b3319 | comment |
Camp Gay: "Knox Harrington. The video artist." Played by David Thewlis. Who giggles madly for no reason at times, much to the Dude's consternation. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_722b3319 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_722b3319 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_722b3319 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_728298ef | type |
Vandalism Backfire | |
The Big Lebowski / int_728298ef | comment |
Vandalism Backfire: Double whammy. Walter suspects a kid of stealing a million-dollar ransom from The Dude's car. When they arrive at his house, there's a new Corvette sitting out front, which more or less confirms their suspicions. After a brief interrogation, Walter decides that more severe measures are necessary and begins to smash the Corvette with a crowbar. Turns out it wasn't the kid's car, as the neighbor runs out screaming about his new Corvette. He decides to destroy Walter's car, which of course actually belongs to The Dude. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_728298ef | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_728298ef | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_728298ef | |
The Big Lebowski / int_744e3311 | type |
Police Brutality | |
The Big Lebowski / int_744e3311 | comment |
Police Brutality: The Malibu Sheriff, who throws his mug at The Dude and begins kicking the shit out of him. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_744e3311 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_744e3311 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_744e3311 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_7719cf90 | type |
It Began with a Twist of Fate | |
The Big Lebowski / int_7719cf90 | comment |
It Began with a Twist of Fate: The entire plot of the movie gets kickstarted because a pair of Stupid Crooks went to the wrong Jeffrey Lebowski's house to try to collect on his wife's debt. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_7719cf90 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_7719cf90 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_7719cf90 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_77b009ea | type |
Phrase Catcher | |
The Big Lebowski / int_77b009ea | comment |
Phrase Catcher: The Dude gets this a couple of different times, but the most distinctive is both Lebowski and Walter chastising the Dude for his "Fuck it" philosophy, calling it "[his] answer for everything." Toward the end, the Dude finally gets to say what everyone else has said to him at some point: | |
The Big Lebowski / int_77b009ea | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_77b009ea | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_77b009ea | |
The Big Lebowski / int_78270847 | type |
Curse Cut Short | |
The Big Lebowski / int_78270847 | comment |
Curse Cut Short: | |
The Big Lebowski / int_78270847 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_78270847 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_78270847 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_7ad2c23d | type |
ShoutOutToShakespeare | |
The Big Lebowski / int_7ad2c23d | comment |
Shout-Out to Shakespeare: Amusingly, one thug pronounces "Ever thus to deadbeats" while defacing the rug, as in Sic Semper Tyrannis. Likewise, Walter's "Good Night, Sweet Prince" in Donny's eulogy. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_7ad2c23d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_7ad2c23d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_7ad2c23d | |
The Big Lebowski / int_7b50237d | type |
Distinction Without a Difference | |
The Big Lebowski / int_7b50237d | comment |
Distinction Without a Difference: The Dude, when trying to explain his relationship with Maude to a private detective. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_7b50237d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_7b50237d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_7b50237d | |
The Big Lebowski / int_7cd6822e | type |
Significant Name Overlap | |
The Big Lebowski / int_7cd6822e | comment |
Significant Name Overlap: The film's plot hinges around two lead characters both named Jeff Lebowski—one a slacker, one a millionaire. In-story, they are differentiated by the washed-out protagonist being called "the Dude", while the millionaire he is mistaken for is the titular "big Lebowski". | |
The Big Lebowski / int_7cd6822e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_7cd6822e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_7cd6822e | |
The Big Lebowski / int_7e081ea0 | type |
Slice of Life | |
The Big Lebowski / int_7e081ea0 | comment |
Slice of Life: Aside from the fact that we see nothing of anyone's background, and have no idea what happens to them afterwards, there is very little compelling about the story in and of itself, aside from a brief period of interesting times happening to the characters as they otherwise go about their unchanging lives. Furthermore, we are repeatedly introduced to non-sequiturs such as The Jesus, Da Fino, Knox Harrington, Uli Kunkel, the landlord, etc. etc., who have little to no bearing on anything. It's simply a straightforward slice of the Dude's life, albeit one uniquely splattered with an interesting incident. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_7e081ea0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_7e081ea0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_7e081ea0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_7f049db8 | type |
Car Radio Dispute | |
The Big Lebowski / int_7f049db8 | comment |
Car Radio Dispute: The Dude gets in an argument with a cab driver because he "hates the fucking Eagles", culminating with his getting kicked out of the cab. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_7f049db8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_7f049db8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_7f049db8 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_7f298d3d | type |
Lame Comeback | |
The Big Lebowski / int_7f298d3d | comment |
Lame Comeback: "Yeah, well, you know, that's just like... uh... your opinion, man." | |
The Big Lebowski / int_7f298d3d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_7f298d3d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_7f298d3d | |
The Big Lebowski / int_7febc23b | type |
Establishing Character Moment | |
The Big Lebowski / int_7febc23b | comment |
Establishing Character Moment: The first thing His Dudeness The Slacker is shown doing is shopping for half-and-half in his robe, tasting it in the store, then paying for it by writing a check for 69 cents. On further analysis, the check is postdated. Walter's first scene is conversing with the Dude about the first home invasion and spouting off various theories and odd phrases in-between shouting at Donnie, showcasing his Cloudcuckoolander personality with a Hair-Trigger Temper and an inability to not stop talking about violence, befitting his veteran status. Donny's first scene is him scoring a perfect strike while bowling then immediately being ignored or berated by Walter when he asks what's going on, establishing his bowling skills and background character status. The Big Lebowski's first real appearance has him berating the Dude for asking for compensation and insulting him for being a bum, all while talking about how amazing, hardworking, and successful he is. Maude is introduced performing some sort of ridiculous, self-styled painting method, then awkwardly and nonchalantly asking the Dude if he enjoys sex before going on a small rant about how men are uncomfortable with sex, establishing herself as avant-garde and an opinionated feminist. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_7febc23b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_7febc23b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_7febc23b | |
The Big Lebowski / int_808cbaeb | type |
Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking | |
The Big Lebowski / int_808cbaeb | comment |
Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Without the verbalization; after another home invasion where The Dude's johnson is threatened by a nihilist ferret (which the Dude mistakenly believes to be a marmot). | |
The Big Lebowski / int_808cbaeb | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_808cbaeb | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_808cbaeb | |
The Big Lebowski / int_863fa679 | type |
What Happened to the Mouse? | |
The Big Lebowski / int_863fa679 | comment |
What Happened to the Mouse?: Bunny still owes Jackie Treehorn a pile of cash, but that's now a problem for her and the Big Lebowski to deal with. After Larry gets introduced, his family's maid just vanishes from the movie. She does not appear again even when Walter starts yelling and cussing at Larry, and then goes to wreck the car. Larry himself disappears from the movie after that scene, though the Dude mentions him later to Jackie. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_863fa679 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_863fa679 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_863fa679 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_8669e8e2 | type |
It's the Principle of the Thing | |
The Big Lebowski / int_8669e8e2 | comment |
It's the Principle of the Thing: "They peed on your fucking rug." In fact, most of the film revolves around the fact the Dude wants his rug and car returned or compensated. "That rug really tied the room together." | |
The Big Lebowski / int_8669e8e2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_8669e8e2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_8669e8e2 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_8b606a51 | type |
There Is No Kill Like Overkill | |
The Big Lebowski / int_8b606a51 | comment |
There Is No Kill Like Overkill: MARK IT ZERO! Walter does it again when the Nihilists show up in person to rob them. He crushes one Nihilist's lung and bites off the ear of another. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_8b606a51 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_8b606a51 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_8b606a51 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_8c681acc | type |
Third-Person Person | |
The Big Lebowski / int_8c681acc | comment |
Third-Person Person: The Dude prefers referring to His Dudeness as... the Dude. The Jesus does this as well. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_8c681acc | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_8c681acc | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_8c681acc | |
The Big Lebowski / int_8ce55ec6 | type |
Ransom Drop | |
The Big Lebowski / int_8ce55ec6 | comment |
Ransom Drop: The Dude is tasked to drop the ransom money for the title character's Trophy Wife from a bridge into a river. But then things go sideways. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_8ce55ec6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_8ce55ec6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_8ce55ec6 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_8d0e21d2 | type |
Euroshlock | |
The Big Lebowski / int_8d0e21d2 | comment |
The nihilists believe they're in a quirky-but-dark Tarantino-inspired Euroshlock crime thriller about a gang of eccentric Villain Protagonists, and that they're the protagonists in question. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_8d0e21d2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_8d0e21d2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_8d0e21d2 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_8d718b9e | type |
Bears Are Bad News | |
The Big Lebowski / int_8d718b9e | comment |
Bears Are Bad News: "Sometime you eat the b'ar, and sometimes, well... he eats YOU!" | |
The Big Lebowski / int_8d718b9e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_8d718b9e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_8d718b9e | |
The Big Lebowski / int_8e0ceaf5 | type |
Finger in the Mail | |
The Big Lebowski / int_8e0ceaf5 | comment |
Finger in the Mail: The eponymous "Big" Jeffrey Lebowski is sent one of his wife's, Bunny, toes after a botched money exchange. It's later revealed to not be his wife's toe, but rather, the female nihilist's. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_8e0ceaf5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_8e0ceaf5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_8e0ceaf5 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_8e20b0f7 | type |
Private Detective | |
The Big Lebowski / int_8e20b0f7 | comment |
When the Dude confronts Da Fino, the actual Private Detective, things look they're going to get physical for a moment. And by 'physical', this means they don't actually make contact with each other but sort of flinch. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_8e20b0f7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_8e20b0f7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_8e20b0f7 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_90e061dd | type |
Karmic Misfire | |
The Big Lebowski / int_90e061dd | comment |
Karmic Misfire: Much of the plot involves The Dude either being abused or held responsible for things beyond his control, mainly due to being in the wrong place at the wrong time and certain parties giving conflicting information. The plot kicks off when he is mistaken for the Big Lebowski, whose wife owes money to Jackie Treehorn, getting violently swirlied by one thug and having his rug peed on by the other. The Big Lebowski, Jackie Treehorn and the Nihilists then make the Dude completely responsible for their transaction of money, Treehorn and the Nihilists routinely intimidating and harassing the Dude over the money they think he has and in the Big Lebowski's case using him as a patsy in a Frame-Up to steal money from his own charity. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_90e061dd | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_90e061dd | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_90e061dd | |
The Big Lebowski / int_94d295c0 | type |
The Precious, Precious Car | |
The Big Lebowski / int_94d295c0 | comment |
The Precious, Precious Car: The Corvette they find during the attempt to extort the boy who stole The Dude's car. "I'd say he's still got about $960-$970,000 left, depending on the options." | |
The Big Lebowski / int_94d295c0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_94d295c0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_94d295c0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_96a33f11 | type |
Riddle for the Ages | |
The Big Lebowski / int_96a33f11 | comment |
Riddle for the Ages: Why did Jackie Treehorn draw...THAT? Was Smokey really over the line? We never see it for ourselves. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_96a33f11 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_96a33f11 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_96a33f11 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_98a150f3 | type |
Excrement Statement | |
The Big Lebowski / int_98a150f3 | comment |
Excrement Statement: A goon pees on the Dude's fucking rug while proclaiming "Ever thus to deadbeats." Walter and the Dude decide that this aggression will not stand. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_98a150f3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_98a150f3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_98a150f3 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_9b73b497 | type |
The Only One Allowed to Defeat You | |
The Big Lebowski / int_9b73b497 | comment |
The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: The Jesus - apparently the only real competition the Dude and friends have - takes Walter getting the Dude and Donny a religiously-mandated break very personally, and promises to kick their asses "any day of the week". | |
The Big Lebowski / int_9b73b497 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_9b73b497 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_9b73b497 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_9c1f758a | type |
Kill It with Fire | |
The Big Lebowski / int_9c1f758a | comment |
Kill It with Fire: The Dude's car meets its end this way at the hands of the nihilists. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_9c1f758a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_9c1f758a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_9c1f758a | |
The Big Lebowski / int_9c550e26 | type |
Word Salad Title | |
The Big Lebowski / int_9c550e26 | comment |
Word Salad Title: Par for the course for a Coen Brothers film. The title only makes sense if you know that there are two characters in the movie named "Lebowski", and that one of them is an enormously wealthy businessman with a huge ego. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_9c550e26 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_9c550e26 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_9c550e26 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_9d12bbc1 | type |
Foreshadowing | |
The Big Lebowski / int_9d12bbc1 | comment |
Foreshadowing: "You guys are dead in the water." Where do Walter and the Dude take Donny's ashes? After he fails to strike (for the first and only time in the film) and sits back down near the end, you can see Donny start to wiggle and flail his arm in discomfort. The arms tend to go numb just before someone has a heart attack. There's another, surprising one if you think about it: the poster image on this very pagenote Specifically, the lack of Steve Buscemi's character on it. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_9d12bbc1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_9d12bbc1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_9d12bbc1 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_9ebee577 | type |
Anaphora | |
The Big Lebowski / int_9ebee577 | comment |
Anaphora: The Malibu Police Chief lists every quality he detests about the Dude, starting and ending each sentence with the same words. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_9ebee577 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_9ebee577 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_9ebee577 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_9f39630a | type |
Laborious Laziness | |
The Big Lebowski / int_9f39630a | comment |
Laborious Laziness: The whole plot might not have happened if the Dude had just bothered to clean his rug after it had been peed on. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_9f39630a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_9f39630a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_9f39630a | |
The Big Lebowski / int_a07afea2 | type |
Random Events Plot | |
The Big Lebowski / int_a07afea2 | comment |
The Dude thinks all the various threads he uncovers must figure into the big mystery at the center of the plot. They don't. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_a07afea2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_a07afea2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_a07afea2 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_a1a1491e | type |
Homage | |
The Big Lebowski / int_a1a1491e | comment |
Homage: Lebowski and his family are based on General Sternwood's family from The Big Sleep, which shares a similar noir plot involving kidnapping and pornography in LA. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_a1a1491e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_a1a1491e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_a1a1491e | |
The Big Lebowski / int_a42f56b0 | type |
Royal "We" | |
The Big Lebowski / int_a42f56b0 | comment |
Royal "We": When The Dude is told to Come Alone, he's forced to bring Walter with him. He then blows Walter's cover by using the pronoun "we". He tries to explain that he was using "the Royal "We"." | |
The Big Lebowski / int_a42f56b0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_a42f56b0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_a42f56b0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_a4c37cbe | type |
Mood Whiplash | |
The Big Lebowski / int_a4c37cbe | comment |
Mood Whiplash: Donny's death. After two hours of intrigue and crazy drug-fueled antics, Walter and the Dude have nothing left to do but solemnly mourn a man who spent the entire movie as a punching bag. The movie ends with the two of them in the bowling alley again, quietly contemplating their lives. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_a4c37cbe | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_a4c37cbe | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_a4c37cbe | |
The Big Lebowski / int_a56c59ac | type |
Historical Character Confusion | |
The Big Lebowski / int_a56c59ac | comment |
Historical Character Confusion: The Dude is struggling with a Lenin quote ("You look for the person who will benefit...") which he cannot remember properly. Donny, trying to be helpful, repeatedly mentions John Lennon's 1967 song "I Am the Walrus". Considering the context, he is most likely actually quoting Cicero's noteactually Lucius Cassius Longinus Ravilla's, but the quote became so well-known because Cicero often cited it in his speeches "Cui bono?"("to whose benefit?") who used it in the sense "Who benefits from the crime?"; Lenin would later quote Cicero. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_a56c59ac | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_a56c59ac | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_a56c59ac | |
The Big Lebowski / int_a5fa9313 | type |
Faked Kidnapping | |
The Big Lebowski / int_a5fa9313 | comment |
Faked Kidnapping: Walter and then the Dude believe this might be the case. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_a5fa9313 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_a5fa9313 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_a5fa9313 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_a6a68db3 | type |
Humble Goal | |
The Big Lebowski / int_a6a68db3 | comment |
Humble Goal: "All The Dude ever wanted was his rug back." | |
The Big Lebowski / int_a6a68db3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_a6a68db3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_a6a68db3 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_a7aef9ff | type |
Obfuscating Stupidity | |
The Big Lebowski / int_a7aef9ff | comment |
Obfuscating Stupidity: It's hinted a few times that the Dude isn't that clouded by a constant haze of pot. During the Dude's encounter with Maude and the viewing of 'Logjammin', which features a stereotypical pornographic scenario of a repairman turning up to fix the cable. When Maude remarks that the film's direction is obvious, the Dude blithely asks "He fixes the cable?" Maude promptly calls him out on this. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_a7aef9ff | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_a7aef9ff | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_a7aef9ff | |
The Big Lebowski / int_a849183f | type |
Toilet Seat Divorce | |
The Big Lebowski / int_a849183f | comment |
Toilet Seat Divorce: Alluded to when one of Jackie Treehorn's thugs mentions Bunny to the Dude. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_a849183f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_a849183f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_a849183f | |
The Big Lebowski / int_a94eaaa4 | type |
Odd Friendship | |
The Big Lebowski / int_a94eaaa4 | comment |
Odd Friendship: The Dude is a laid-back stoner hippy, Walter is a boisterous, obnoxious and tightly wound Vietnam vet with huge anger management issues, and Donny is an easy-going doormat. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_a94eaaa4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_a94eaaa4 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_a94eaaa4 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_aa07ca54 | type |
Obfuscating Disability | |
The Big Lebowski / int_aa07ca54 | comment |
Obfuscating Disability: "I've seen a lot of spinals, Dude. And this guy fuckin' walks." It's left somewhat ambiguous, as The Big Lebowski's leg twitches after Walter throws him to the ground, but it might have not been caught by the editors. Alternatively, there are plenty of disabled people who are able to move their legs but not walk on them. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_aa07ca54 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_aa07ca54 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_aa07ca54 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_ab8e26e2 | type |
Slipping a Mickey | |
The Big Lebowski / int_ab8e26e2 | comment |
Slipping a Mickey: Jackie Treehorn does this to the Dude. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_ab8e26e2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_ab8e26e2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_ab8e26e2 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_abad35b4 | type |
Soundtrack Dissonance | |
The Big Lebowski / int_abad35b4 | comment |
Soundtrack Dissonance: In the "family restaurant", during the Dude and Walter's profanity-laced dialogue about kidnapping and toes cut off, Debbie Reynolds' cutesy song, "Tammy" plays in the background. Also Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Lookin' Out My Back Door" when the Dude drops a lit joint in his car, causing him to crash. It was, however, Suspiciously Apropos Music for the Beetle following him. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_abad35b4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_abad35b4 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_abad35b4 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_ad6593eb | type |
Cut-and-Paste Note | |
The Big Lebowski / int_ad6593eb | comment |
Cut-and-Paste Note: Lebowski receives a ransom note for Bunny, from the Nihilists. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_ad6593eb | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_ad6593eb | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_ad6593eb | |
The Big Lebowski / int_af696bef | type |
Fish out of Water | |
The Big Lebowski / int_af696bef | comment |
Fish out of Water: What makes the film so funny in the first place; the Dude is stuck in a Film Noir narrative with all the various interests around him (aside from Walter and Donny) behaving accordingly. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_af696bef | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_af696bef | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_af696bef | |
The Big Lebowski / int_b01abe4f | type |
Catchphrase | |
The Big Lebowski / int_b01abe4f | comment |
Catchphrase: A number, which is a pretty big understatement. "We believe in nothing!" - the nihilists. "Shut the fuck up, Donny." - Walter "Am I wrong?" - Walter again "Let's go bowling" and variations of it. "Fuck it." - The Dude's answer to any kind of adversity, an attitude that gets him criticized by both Walter and Lebowski. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_b01abe4f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_b01abe4f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_b01abe4f | |
The Big Lebowski / int_b02f21f | type |
Digital Destruction | |
The Big Lebowski / int_b02f21f | comment |
Digital Destruction: Universal's Blu-Ray release of the film has been subject to quite a bit of criticism due to its overuse of edge-enhancement and DNR (digital noise removal), which, while removing a lot of film grain, also removes much of the texture and detail from the movie. This was later fixed with the Ultra HD release of the film. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_b02f21f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_b02f21f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_b02f21f | |
The Big Lebowski / int_b032e4ed | type |
Ms. Fanservice | |
The Big Lebowski / int_b032e4ed | comment |
Ms. Fanservice: Maude comes off as a warped version of this trope at times. In general, she takes full advantage of the naked female body to intimidate others. Bunny is scantily clad in all of her scenes and can briefly be seen running around in the nude. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_b032e4ed | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_b032e4ed | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_b032e4ed | |
The Big Lebowski / int_b034d333 | type |
Film Noir | |
The Big Lebowski / int_b034d333 | comment |
The Big Lebowski, Maude, Jackie Treehorn and Da Fino seem to think and act like they're playing a Film Noir straight (and even manage to convince Walter of this for a time). | |
The Big Lebowski / int_b034d333 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_b034d333 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_b034d333 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_b06bbf4b | type |
Be Careful What You Wish For | |
The Big Lebowski / int_b06bbf4b | comment |
Be Careful What You Wish For: Walter got what he wanted. Donny finally shut the fuck up. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_b06bbf4b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_b06bbf4b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_b06bbf4b | |
The Big Lebowski / int_b0a529cb | type |
Extreme Doormat | |
The Big Lebowski / int_b0a529cb | comment |
Extreme Doormat: The Dude's landlord, who only meekly asks for the rent and does nothing when the Dude defers. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_b0a529cb | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_b0a529cb | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_b0a529cb | |
The Big Lebowski / int_b0e81c37 | type |
A Simple Plan | |
The Big Lebowski / int_b0e81c37 | comment |
A Simple Plan: "The best part of my plan is... its simplicity." | |
The Big Lebowski / int_b0e81c37 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_b0e81c37 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_b0e81c37 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_b53077b3 | type |
Take That! | |
The Big Lebowski / int_b53077b3 | comment |
Take That!: When the Narrator introduces us to The Dude: | |
The Big Lebowski / int_b53077b3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_b53077b3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_b53077b3 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_b537784e | type |
Fauxlosophic Narration | |
The Big Lebowski / int_b537784e | comment |
Fauxlosophic Narration: Parodied; the Stranger tries to present a sage, wise perspective on things, but keeps losing his train of thought. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_b537784e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_b537784e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_b537784e | |
The Big Lebowski / int_b707726f | type |
Hypocritical Humor | |
The Big Lebowski / int_b707726f | comment |
Walter corrects the Dude because "Chinaman is not the preferred nomenclature. Asian-American, please." Only to promptly subvert it with "The Chinaman is not the issue here!" | |
The Big Lebowski / int_b707726f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_b707726f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_b707726f | |
The Big Lebowski / int_ba32d232 | type |
Busby Berkeley Number | |
The Big Lebowski / int_ba32d232 | comment |
The "Gutterballs" Busby Berkeley Number dream. And see about two minutes in for Between My Legs. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_ba32d232 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_ba32d232 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_ba32d232 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_bb18a227 | type |
It's All About Me | |
The Big Lebowski / int_bb18a227 | comment |
The Big Lebowski's first real appearance has him berating the Dude for asking for compensation and insulting him for being a bum, all while talking about how amazing, hardworking, and successful he is. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_bb18a227 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_bb18a227 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_bb18a227 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_bb35f8b6 | type |
Mixed Metaphor | |
The Big Lebowski / int_bb35f8b6 | comment |
Mixed Metaphor: | |
The Big Lebowski / int_bb35f8b6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_bb35f8b6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_bb35f8b6 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_bbe11bf0 | type |
Comically Inappropriate Funeral Urn | |
The Big Lebowski / int_bbe11bf0 | comment |
Comically Inappropriate Funeral Urn: One of the most famous examples of this trope, the Dude and Walter can't afford (or maybe Walter just refuses to pay for) even the most modestly-priced receptacle from the mortuary for Donny's ashes, and the mortuary isn't interested in renting it out, so Walter just buys a tin of Folgers coffee to do the job. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_bbe11bf0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_bbe11bf0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_bbe11bf0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_bc74ef27 | type |
Berserk Button | |
The Big Lebowski / int_bc74ef27 | comment |
Berserk Button: The cab driver freaks out and bodily throws the Dude out of his cab just for not wanting to listen to the The Eagles. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_bc74ef27 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_bc74ef27 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_bc74ef27 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_bdc453a0 | type |
Incest Subtext | |
The Big Lebowski / int_bdc453a0 | comment |
Incest Subtext: Maud apparently wants a baby with a man who has the same name as her father? | |
The Big Lebowski / int_bdc453a0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_bdc453a0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_bdc453a0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_bef9ad0 | type |
Trophy Room | |
The Big Lebowski / int_bef9ad0 | comment |
Trophy Room: The wall where the titular Big Lebowski displays awards won both by himself and by his "Little Lebowski Urban Achievers". | |
The Big Lebowski / int_bef9ad0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_bef9ad0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_bef9ad0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_bf67c13e | type |
Opening Monologue | |
The Big Lebowski / int_bf67c13e | comment |
Opening Monologue: The Stranger delivers one. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_bf67c13e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_bf67c13e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_bf67c13e | |
The Big Lebowski / int_c1cef253 | type |
Nice, Mean, and In-Between | |
The Big Lebowski / int_c1cef253 | comment |
Nice Mean And In Between: The Dude qualifies for inbetween - snarky, lazy, and will only ever do anything if he's absolutely required to. But The Dude is a generally decent guy, so long as you're willing to move at his pace. Walter is mean - quick to threaten violence against anyone who crosses him and is generally a paranoid wreck. Donny is nice - perpetually affable-but-oblivious compared to his two friends. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_c1cef253 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_c1cef253 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_c1cef253 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_c45c9fcd | type |
Ass Shove | |
The Big Lebowski / int_c45c9fcd | comment |
Ass Shove: The Jesus threatens to do this to Walter with Walter's Colt .45 and yank the trigger "'til it goes click" if Walter ever tries jamming a gun in Jesus's face. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_c45c9fcd | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_c45c9fcd | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_c45c9fcd | |
The Big Lebowski / int_c49935fa | type |
20 Minutes into the Past | |
The Big Lebowski / int_c49935fa | comment |
20 Minutes into the Past: The movie takes a period film approach to the events of the early nineties, with the Persian Gulf War building in the background, but was released just seven years after said war. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_c49935fa | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_c49935fa | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_c49935fa | |
The Big Lebowski / int_c5d50cb0 | type |
Opposing Sports Team | |
The Big Lebowski / int_c5d50cb0 | comment |
With his bowling league, the Dude himself also has a sports film happening at the same time as the main film, along with Walter and Donny, which he's far more interested in and devoted to. Perhaps appropriately, however, we never get to see any of it, but we do get to meet the Opposing Sports Team in the form of Jesus Quintana. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_c5d50cb0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_c5d50cb0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_c5d50cb0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_c6b38794 | type |
Censored for Comedy | |
The Big Lebowski / int_c6b38794 | comment |
Censored for Comedy: Since the Coen Brothers knew the scene where Walter destroys a car couldn't be aired on television with its original dialogue, they decided to go for Word-Salad Humor with the ADR. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_c6b38794 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_c6b38794 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_c6b38794 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_c75df49a | type |
Shout-Out | |
The Big Lebowski / int_c75df49a | comment |
Shout-Out: The line "The Dude abides" is an echo of Rachel's closing line "They abide, and they endure" in The Night of the Hunter. Walter's emphasis on the simplicity of his plan is likely a shoutout to the film A Simple Plan, given that its director, Sam Raimi, is friends with the Coens. Walter is constantly telling Donny to shut up, which is a reference to Fargo, another Coen Brothers film in which Steve Buscemi's character would not shut up. Da Fino drives a VW Beetle, like fellow private eye Loren Visser from the Coens' 1984 thriller Blood Simple. Da Fino's car looks better than Visser's though, reflecting their respective morality: while Visser is a double-crossing Psycho for Hire and the main antagonist, Da Fino does nothing worse than tailing the Dude in the hope that he'll lead him to Bunny, so he can talk her into going home to her parents. Uli Kunkel's band Autobahn is a huge nod to Kraftwerk, not just because of the lookalike cover, but also "Autobahn" is the title of one of Kraftwerk's best-known songs. After Da Fino shows The Dude a picture of Bunny, The Dude says, "How ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm after they've seen Karl Hungus?", a reference to the song, "How Ya Gonna Keep 'em Down on the Farm (After They've Seen Paree)?" The farm in question is in Moorhead, Minnesota, which is the twin city of Fargo, North Dakota. "I'm as Jewish as fuckin' Tevye!" The Dude is driving while smoking a joint, drops it on his lap, burns himself, tries to put out by pouring beer on it, while swerving the car around, just like the final scene of Up in Smoke. Maude's video artist friend is an Ed Wood clone. The search for the Dude's car leads him, Walter and Donny to Arthur Digby Sellers, a fictional writer who is said to have written over 150 episodes of the Western TV series Branded (1965) (which in real life only ran for two seasons totaling 48 episodes). Shout-Out to Shakespeare: Amusingly, one thug pronounces "Ever thus to deadbeats" while defacing the rug, as in Sic Semper Tyrannis. Likewise, Walter's "Good Night, Sweet Prince" in Donny's eulogy. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_c75df49a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_c75df49a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_c75df49a | |
The Big Lebowski / int_c85c6d21 | type |
Knight, Knave, and Squire | |
The Big Lebowski / int_c85c6d21 | comment |
Knight, Knave, and Squire: Though this movie is not an action movie in the traditional sense, Walter, the Dude and Donny fit this trope surprisingly well (as Knight, Knave and Squire, respectively). note Interestingly, Adam Bertocci's fan tribute Two Gentlemen of Lebowski (which rewrites the movie as a Shakespearean comedy) makes them fit the trope literally. The Dude is reimagined as a ne'er-do-well called "The Knave", Walter is the hot-tempered knight "Sir Walter of Poland", and Donny is his timid companion "Sir Donald of Greece". Walter is a fiercely patriotic and devoutly religious veteran soldier who always brings the guns into every tough situation, and always charges headfirst into every problem. The Dude is a laid-back aging hippy with no loyalty to anything but his own petty self-interest, and he prefers to talk his way out of every situation. Donny is just an average guy with no interest in crime or intrigue, and he spends most of the movie completely out of his depth. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_c85c6d21 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_c85c6d21 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_c85c6d21 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_c86b7046 | type |
It's Not Porn, It's Art | |
The Big Lebowski / int_c86b7046 | comment |
It's Not Porn, It's Art: | |
The Big Lebowski / int_c86b7046 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_c86b7046 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_c86b7046 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_caa28b82 | type |
Cloudcuckoolander | |
The Big Lebowski / int_caa28b82 | comment |
Walter's first scene is conversing with the Dude about the first home invasion and spouting off various theories and odd phrases in-between shouting at Donnie, showcasing his Cloudcuckoolander personality with a Hair-Trigger Temper and an inability to not stop talking about violence, befitting his veteran status. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_caa28b82 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_caa28b82 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_caa28b82 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_cb1a6514 | type |
Country Mouse | |
The Big Lebowski / int_cb1a6514 | comment |
While not necessarily all being heroes, pretty much everyone the Dude encounters seems to have their own movie going on just off-screen, most of which are different genres — sometimes within the same 'film'. In addition to Da Fino, Jackie Treehorn and Bunny have a conflict going on over money that she owes him — he acts as if he's the powerful crime lord in a thriller, whereas her side of it is more some kind of "Country Mouse comes to town and falls into problems with sex and drugs" narrative, along with some pornography. Maude and the Big Lebowski have a conflict over the family businesses and embezzlement happening, with Maude also having her own kind of weird European art-film going on at the same time. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_cb1a6514 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_cb1a6514 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_cb1a6514 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_cb85ee6f | type |
Complaining About People Not Liking the Show | |
The Big Lebowski / int_cb85ee6f | comment |
Complaining About People Not Liking the Show: In-universe. A cab driver has a sudden outrage at the Dude for not liking The Eagles. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_cb85ee6f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_cb85ee6f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_cb85ee6f | |
The Big Lebowski / int_cbabd0ca | type |
Wrongfully Attributed | |
The Big Lebowski / int_cbabd0ca | comment |
Wrongfully Attributed: Lenin and Lennon quotes are out of your element, Donny. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_cbabd0ca | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_cbabd0ca | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_cbabd0ca | |
The Big Lebowski / int_cc029a4b | type |
Dude, Where's Our Car? | |
The Big Lebowski / int_cc029a4b | comment |
Dude, Where's Our Car?: The Dude's car is stolen (with the real ransom money briefcase still inside), prompting Donny to ask: "Say, Dude, where is your car?" The title of the movie Dude, Where's My Car? was inspired by this movie. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_cc029a4b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_cc029a4b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_cc029a4b | |
The Big Lebowski / int_cc7fae30 | type |
Outside-Context Problem | |
The Big Lebowski / int_cc7fae30 | comment |
Outside-Context Problem: Thanks to some Stupid Crooks, The Dude finds himself and Walter caught up in a mess of other people's plots and plans. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_cc7fae30 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_cc7fae30 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_cc7fae30 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_cd3703a2 | type |
Genre Mashup | |
The Big Lebowski / int_cd3703a2 | comment |
Genre Mashup: It's a Stoner Flick masquerading as Film Noir, while the narrator insists it's The Western, and its various characters are archetypes from other genres, like the seething war vet and the cocky sports rival. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_cd3703a2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_cd3703a2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_cd3703a2 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_cde51255 | type |
Antagonist Title | |
The Big Lebowski / int_cde51255 | comment |
Antagonist Title: The protagonist is the Dude (although his surname is indeed Lebowski). The other one, the "Big" Lebowski, is one of several antagonists in the film. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_cde51255 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_cde51255 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_cde51255 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_ce9da072 | type |
Realistic Diction Is Unrealistic | |
The Big Lebowski / int_ce9da072 | comment |
Realistic Diction Is Unrealistic: Used to play up the contrast between the "regular people" and the "film characters". Characters who are obviously played as characters don't stutter, and engage in dialogue - Maude, in particular, speaks like she's just stepped out of an old movie. Characters played as regular people thrust into a movie plot - like the Dude - have conversations, with all the attendant "ums" and misunderstandings. Best demonstrated by this exchange between the Dude and the Big Lebowski: It was like that in the script - everything but "you human paraquat" was scripted. The Coens are known for being pretty insistent that lines be delivered exactly as written. Maude's line "Little Lebowski Urban Achievers, and proud we are of all of them" is delivered in trochaic and then iambic tetrameter, both to hammer home how alien she is to the Dude and to catch the audience's ear, so we'll notice that she's about to reveal the plot twist. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_ce9da072 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_ce9da072 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_ce9da072 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_cec8b87a | type |
This Is for Emphasis, Bitch! | |
The Big Lebowski / int_cec8b87a | comment |
This Is for Emphasis, Bitch!: | |
The Big Lebowski / int_cec8b87a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_cec8b87a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_cec8b87a | |
The Big Lebowski / int_cf92fea8 | type |
Cassandra Truth | |
The Big Lebowski / int_cf92fea8 | comment |
Cassandra Truth/The Cuckoolander Was Right: Walter speculates what really happened throughout the movie and is right almost every time. No one believes him. "Am I wrong?" The only things he wasn't right about was when he thinks the Big Lebowski isn't disabled and throws him on the floor, and about Bunny kidnapping herself, but that wasn't his idea anyway, and he was right that she was safe all along. And he was right that "that's not her toe, dude." | |
The Big Lebowski / int_cf92fea8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_cf92fea8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_cf92fea8 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_d01ef95b | type |
Dreams of Flying | |
The Big Lebowski / int_d01ef95b | comment |
Dreams of Flying: After being drugged by Jackie, the Dude has a flying dream. It also happens earlier, when he is knocked out by one of Maude's goons and his recently acquired rug taken. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_d01ef95b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_d01ef95b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_d01ef95b | |
The Big Lebowski / int_d3bf2f55 | type |
Where Do You Think You Are? | |
The Big Lebowski / int_d3bf2f55 | comment |
Where Do You Think You Are?: Walter's obnoxious habit of loudly getting on his high horse leads to people saying this. "This is a family restaurant." "This is a mortuary. Not a rental house." "Smokey, this is not 'Nam. This is bowling. There are rules." | |
The Big Lebowski / int_d3bf2f55 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_d3bf2f55 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_d3bf2f55 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_d6901d5a | type |
Dress Hits Floor | |
The Big Lebowski / int_d6901d5a | comment |
Dress Hits Floor: And Maude gets loved. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_d6901d5a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_d6901d5a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_d6901d5a | |
The Big Lebowski / int_d6b5f05f | type |
Friendship Moment | |
The Big Lebowski / int_d6b5f05f | comment |
Friendship Moment: Happens after the last time the Nihilists show up. Donny gets scared and Walter gently reassures him that they aren't in any real danger. That's it. Just one quick moment, not particularly touching, but if it weren't for this, Walter's a heartfelt eulogy for Donny would seem like it came out of nowhere, seeing as the rest of their interaction in the film is Walter shouting at Donny and telling him to shut the fuck up. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_d6b5f05f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_d6b5f05f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_d6b5f05f | |
The Big Lebowski / int_d848560f | type |
Unusual Euphemism | |
The Big Lebowski / int_d848560f | comment |
Unusual Euphemism: Ties in with Goshdang It To Heck in edited-for-TV/aircraft versions, but improves upon it with: "This is what happens, Larry! This is what happens when you feed a stoner scrambled eggs!" (Alternatively "...when you find a stranger in the Alps!") | |
The Big Lebowski / int_d848560f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_d848560f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_d848560f | |
The Big Lebowski / int_d8573ef9 | type |
Screw the Rules, I Have Connections! | |
The Big Lebowski / int_d8573ef9 | comment |
Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: Jackie Treehorn, according to the police chief. "Mr Treehorn draws a lot of water in this town. You don't draw shit, Lebowski." Also how the Big Lebowski gets away with embezzling the million dollars and blaming it on the Dude, "...someone the square community won't give a shit about". | |
The Big Lebowski / int_d8573ef9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_d8573ef9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_d8573ef9 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_d8e40b47 | type |
El Spanish "-o" | |
The Big Lebowski / int_d8e40b47 | comment |
El Spanish "-o": You can call him "El Duderino" if you're not into the whole brevity thing. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_d8e40b47 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_d8e40b47 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_d8e40b47 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_d8f6a563 | type |
Good Night, Sweet Prince | |
The Big Lebowski / int_d8f6a563 | comment |
Likewise, Walter's "Good Night, Sweet Prince" in Donny's eulogy. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_d8f6a563 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_d8f6a563 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_d8f6a563 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_d9cf40fa | type |
Screw This, I'm Outta Here | |
The Big Lebowski / int_d9cf40fa | comment |
Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Dude does this a few times throughout the film. The Big Lebowski even lampshades it: A few scenes later, Walter chastises the Dude for the same reason. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_d9cf40fa | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_d9cf40fa | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_d9cf40fa | |
The Big Lebowski / int_dbca2c99 | type |
Red Herring | |
The Big Lebowski / int_dbca2c99 | comment |
Red Herring: Da Fino, the guy following The Dude around in the VW, turns out to have nothing to do with the conspiracy - he's actually following it around. Not to mention the toe. Also, Jackie Treehorn's hastily-scribbled note. The essay in The Dude's car. In fact, virtually every single lead The Dude and Walt follow turns out to have nothing to do with anything. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_dbca2c99 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_dbca2c99 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_dbca2c99 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_de9047ac | type |
Gambit Pileup | |
The Big Lebowski / int_de9047ac | comment |
Gambit Pileup: First, Jackie Treehorn plans on blackmailing the Big Lebowski over his new wife's debts all over town, but his goons instead get the wrong Lebowski... ...which then leads to the Big Lebowski, upon seeing the Dude come to him for a new rug, wrangle the Dude into a plot to get back his kidnapped wife by having him deliver the ransom money to the kidnappers, a gang of German nihilists. (The Dude himself manages to trick the Big Lebowski's major-domo into giving him a rug.) Walter promptly muscles in on the plan by replacing the ransom bag with used underwear and taking the ransom money for himself and the Dude. Said ransom money is stolen, but it turns out to be some asshole teenager. This causes the Big Lebowski to sic the kidnappers, a gang of German nihilists, on him, who promptly latch on to the Dude as their ticket to a payday. The rug the Dude gets is promptly stolen by Maude Lebowski, the Big Lebowski's estranged daughter, who wants him to recover the money that the Big Lebowski apparently stole from her mother's charity foundation. The Dude himself gets stolen by Treehorn's goons, who try to work him for information, and vice versa. All the Dude gets is a drawing of a giant dick. It then turns out that the Big Lebowski used the kidnapping to embezzle more funds from the charity foundation, and it was likely the ransom bag that the Big Lebowski gave to the Dude was empty in the first place. He might have gotten away with it if Maude didn't happen to be courting the Dude to be a sperm donor, and the post-donation discussion revealed that the Big Lebowski is flat broke. The kidnapping was his opportunity to blame any embezzled funds on paying ransom. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_de9047ac | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_de9047ac | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_de9047ac | |
The Big Lebowski / int_dec8bfbf | type |
Trash Talk | |
The Big Lebowski / int_dec8bfbf | comment |
Trash Talk: The Jesus. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_dec8bfbf | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_dec8bfbf | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_dec8bfbf | |
The Big Lebowski / int_dfb71617 | type |
Male Gaze | |
The Big Lebowski / int_dfb71617 | comment |
Male Gaze: Maude during her introduction spends a generous amount of time showing her bare butt to the camera. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_dfb71617 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_dfb71617 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_dfb71617 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_e12670cd | type |
Freudian Threat | |
The Big Lebowski / int_e12670cd | comment |
Freudian Threat: "Tomorrow we come back and we cut off your chonson." Also: "I said WE'LL CUT OFF YOUR CHONSON !" | |
The Big Lebowski / int_e12670cd | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_e12670cd | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_e12670cd | |
The Big Lebowski / int_e2023325 | type |
StrawmanPolitical | |
The Big Lebowski / int_e2023325 | comment |
Strawman Political: Both Walter and The Dude are different types of Strawman Political stereotypes, the right-wing gun nut and the liberal hippie respectively. However, part of the humour of their characters comes just as much when they subvert these stereotypes as when they play off of them. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_e2023325 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_e2023325 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_e2023325 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_e4f48a7f | type |
The "Fun" in "Funeral" | |
The Big Lebowski / int_e4f48a7f | comment |
The "Fun" in "Funeral": After Donny's death and cremation, the Dude and Walter decide to scatter the ashes over an ocean cliffside. Said ashes are stored in a coffee can, Walter's eulogy is a rambling mess that swerves into a rant about The Vietnam War, and the ceremony caps off with the ashes blowing into the Dude's face because neither of them accounted for the wind going the wrong way. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_e4f48a7f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_e4f48a7f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_e4f48a7f | |
The Big Lebowski / int_e563bf09 | type |
Insistent Terminology | |
The Big Lebowski / int_e563bf09 | comment |
Insistent Terminology: Walter corrects the Dude because "Chinaman is not the preferred nomenclature. Asian-American, please." Only to promptly subvert it with "The Chinaman is not the issue here!" "She's not my special lady, she's my fucking lady friend!" - Similarly, later during this same scene, the Dude himself accidentally calls Maude his "special lady", then quickly corrects himself. The Dude: "I'm The Dude. So that's what you call me." The police chief repeatedly refers to Malibu by the curiously precise term "beach community". | |
The Big Lebowski / int_e563bf09 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_e563bf09 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_e563bf09 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_e68b72 | type |
The Load | |
The Big Lebowski / int_e68b72 | comment |
The Load: Walter is less-than-useful to the Dude for most of the film. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_e68b72 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_e68b72 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_e68b72 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_e7ae07f5 | type |
Briefcase Full of Money | |
The Big Lebowski / int_e7ae07f5 | comment |
Briefcase Full of Money: Walter replaces the real one with his undies, intending to keep the real briefcase full of money, given to the Dude to make an exchange for Bunny. ... Which turned out to not have money in it at all. Perhaps someone should have opened it. As the Dude puts it, Walter "threw out a ringer for a ringer," with the Big Lebowski hoping that the kidnappers would kill the Dude and take the heat off of him. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_e7ae07f5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_e7ae07f5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_e7ae07f5 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_e83f211c | type |
O.O.C. Is Serious Business | |
The Big Lebowski / int_e83f211c | comment |
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: At the end of the movie, you know that the mood is really low in the wake of Donny's death when Walter actually stops screaming about Vietnam for a minute and tenderly apologizes to The Dude for his behavior. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_e83f211c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_e83f211c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_e83f211c | |
The Big Lebowski / int_e84a7d27 | type |
Genre Refugee | |
The Big Lebowski / int_e84a7d27 | comment |
Genre Refugee: All of the characters seem to have stumbled into this movie from different ones and consequently don't seem to be quite sure of exactly what kind of movie they're in. In addition to the Stranger's confusion over whether this is a Western or not: The Dude's walked right out of a stoner comedy or a 1960s New Hollywood-style counterculture flick. Walter acts like he's in a Vietnam drama that chronicles the veteran's harrowing struggle to reacclimatize back into civilian society after everything he's seen and done. The Big Lebowski, Maude, Jackie Treehorn and Da Fino seem to think and act like they're playing a Film Noir straight (and even manage to convince Walter of this for a time). The nihilists believe they're in a quirky-but-dark Tarantino-inspired Euroshlock crime thriller about a gang of eccentric Villain Protagonists, and that they're the protagonists in question. Bunny's dialogue and attitude is essentially a porn movie starlet. The Jesus mashes up Latin Lover comedies with being the Opposing Sports Team personified. Donny is just an ordinary guy who thinks he's in a slightly eccentric bowling team but has an otherwise normal life, and at worst, thinks he's in a normal sports film. He's probably the most wrong out of all of them. And on top of all that, there's a comically Westernesque narrator. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_e84a7d27 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_e84a7d27 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_e84a7d27 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_ea7e3be8 | type |
Dramatic Gun Cock | |
The Big Lebowski / int_ea7e3be8 | comment |
Dramatic Gun Cock: Walter cocks his gun dramatically on Smokey in the bowling alley. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_ea7e3be8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_ea7e3be8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_ea7e3be8 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_eb251937 | type |
Dirty Cop | |
The Big Lebowski / int_eb251937 | comment |
Dirty Cop: The "fuckin' fascist" chief of police of Malibu, a "real reactionary" who assaults the Dude after he is drugged and ejected from Jackie Treehorn's party. The way he hangs on to Jackie Treehorn's version of the truth, that the Dude showed up to cause trouble, and his obsession with making sure the Malibu suburb stays free of "deadbeats" make it clear he's on Jackie's teats. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_eb251937 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_eb251937 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_eb251937 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_ee8807f9 | type |
LawOfConservationOfDetail | |
The Big Lebowski / int_ee8807f9 | comment |
Law of Conservation of Detail: Subverted over and over, part of the movie's Deconstructive Parody of the Film Noir genre. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_ee8807f9 | featureApplicability |
-0.3 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_ee8807f9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_ee8807f9 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_eebf0e76 | type |
Translation Train Wreck | |
The Big Lebowski / int_eebf0e76 | comment |
More often than not, the lyrics of the Gipsy Kings' version of the already surreal "Hotel California" are weird or make little sense in Spanish. The song tries so hard to be literal that it becomes a Translation Train Wreck. A very fitting theme for this kind of movie. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_eebf0e76 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_eebf0e76 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_eebf0e76 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_f06b07ff | type |
Locked Out of the Loop | |
The Big Lebowski / int_f06b07ff | comment |
Locked Out of the Loop: "Shut the fuck up, Donny." "Donny? Please." "DonnyshuttheFUCKup" "DONNY, YOU'RE OUT OF YOUR ELEMENT!" "FORGET IT, DONNY!" Possibly "Life does not stop and start at your convenience, you miserable piece of shit!" Walter may be replying to The Dude's story about Brandt giving The Dude a beeper so he can be contacted at any time. "Donny, shut the f- when do we play?" | |
The Big Lebowski / int_f06b07ff | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_f06b07ff | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_f06b07ff | |
The Big Lebowski / int_f237981e | type |
The Alleged Car | |
The Big Lebowski / int_f237981e | comment |
The Alleged Car: The Dude's Torino increasingly becomes this. It wasn't exactly a royal chariot to begin with, but over the course of the film, it is stolen and trashed by a fifteen-year-old, used as a toilet, crashed by the Dude (twice), beaten with a crowbar, and finally set on fire. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_f237981e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_f237981e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_f237981e | |
The Big Lebowski / int_f2877d9e | type |
IncrediblyLamePun | |
The Big Lebowski / int_f2877d9e | comment |
Incredibly Lame Pun: "They're Nihilists, Donny. There's nothing to be afraid of." | |
The Big Lebowski / int_f2877d9e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_f2877d9e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_f2877d9e | |
The Big Lebowski / int_f2d8e3c2 | type |
Evil Plan | |
The Big Lebowski / int_f2d8e3c2 | comment |
Evil Plan: The titular Lebowski's machinations during the kidnapping; If the Dude opened the case and saw that he was never handed the ransom money in the first place, his total lack of credibility ensures that he ends up taking the heat for "botching" the exchange. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_f2d8e3c2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_f2d8e3c2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_f2d8e3c2 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_f468d177 | type |
The Walrus Was Paul | |
The Big Lebowski / int_f468d177 | comment |
The Walrus Was Paul: Some suspect the film was intentionally designed to make a fool of anyone who attempts to analyze it, particularly after the Coens' previous movie Fargo had become a darling among highbrow critics. In the first scene with the Jesus, the Dude and Walter are talking about Lenin. Donny, getting the wrong end of the stick, keeps saying "I am the Walrus." | |
The Big Lebowski / int_f468d177 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_f468d177 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_f468d177 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_f6b698ac | type |
Complexity Addiction | |
The Big Lebowski / int_f6b698ac | comment |
Complexity Addiction: Discussed during the "handoff" scene by Walter, who claims to dislike overly complex planning ("When a plan gets too complicated, anything can go wrong"), and offers an "ingeniously simplistic" alternative to paying the Nihilists their ransom: grabbing one of Bunny's kidnappers and beating her location out of him. The irony that Walter's actions often serve to over-complicate and problematize the Dude's plans is seemingly lost on him. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_f6b698ac | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_f6b698ac | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_f6b698ac | |
The Big Lebowski / int_f717d46e | type |
Stock Foreign Name | |
The Big Lebowski / int_f717d46e | comment |
Stock Foreign Name: The porn movie has the main character Karl and his female assistant Helga, both stereotypical German names. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_f717d46e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_f717d46e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_f717d46e | |
The Big Lebowski / int_f7d4f121 | type |
Mushroom Samba | |
The Big Lebowski / int_f7d4f121 | comment |
Mushroom Samba: Thrice. "The man in me will do / Nearly any task..." "I got up so tight/I couldn't unwind/I saw so much/I broke my mind..." | |
The Big Lebowski / int_f7d4f121 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_f7d4f121 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_f7d4f121 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_f8ecb0a1 | type |
Glorified Sperm Donor | |
The Big Lebowski / int_f8ecb0a1 | comment |
Glorified Sperm Donor: The Dude for Maude, although the "glorified" bit is definitely averted. "I don't want the father to be someone I have to see socially, or who will have any interest in raising the child himself." | |
The Big Lebowski / int_f8ecb0a1 | featureApplicability |
-1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_f8ecb0a1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_f8ecb0a1 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_f9f2c33 | type |
Running Gag | |
The Big Lebowski / int_f9f2c33 | comment |
Running Gag: Walter mentioning 'Nam whenever it pertains to the given situation. Or when it has completely nothing to do with it at all. Donny trying to join in on Walter and The Dude's conversations (regardless of whether he actually knows what they're talking about), only for Walter to shut him up. The various acts of violence done to The Dude's car, culminating in the nihilists setting it on fire at the end. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_f9f2c33 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_f9f2c33 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_f9f2c33 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_fb1a7602 | type |
Fourth Wall Greeting | |
The Big Lebowski / int_fb1a7602 | comment |
Fourth Wall Greeting: The DVD introduction includes a thoroughly bizarre parody of film preservation societies, apropos of nothing. And yet, it's completely in keeping with the film. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_fb1a7602 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_fb1a7602 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_fb1a7602 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_fbd285b7 | type |
Comically Missing the Point | |
The Big Lebowski / int_fbd285b7 | comment |
Comically Missing the Point: Maude and the Dude as they watch Karl Hungus star in a porn movie as a cable repair guy. Maude comments that "the story is ludicrous" and tells Dude that he can imagine where the plot goes. The Dude ventures, "He fixes the cable?" At one point, Maude shows up in the Dude's apartment, shrugs off the robe she's wearing and, completely naked, demands "Jeffrey, love me." The Dude's response? A confused "That's my robe." After the Dude informs his friends about the Nihilists dropping a feral ferret into his bath and threatening to remove his johnson, Walter starts to get a bit sidetracked on the fact that bringing wildlife into the city limits is a criminal offense. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_fbd285b7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_fbd285b7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_fbd285b7 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_fdbd6162 | type |
With Friends Like These... | |
The Big Lebowski / int_fdbd6162 | comment |
With Friends Like These...: The Dude and Walter have a deep friendship, but it's sometimes hard to tell with all that bickering. Even dropped by The Dude at one point. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_fdbd6162 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_fdbd6162 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_fdbd6162 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_fe0330fb | type |
Brick Joke | |
The Big Lebowski / int_fe0330fb | comment |
Brick Joke: Walter and Donny praise the In-N-Out Burger in North Hollywood where the Dude located the kid who stole his car. After the Dude's car gets trashed by an angry neighbor, we cut to the three heroes riding in the car with Walter and Donny eating burgers. When filing a police report for both his stolen rug and car, The Dude mentions that his tape deck and "the Creedence" were also taken. When he later goes to retrieve his car from the LAPD impound, the officer remarks that he was lucky the thief left "the tape deck and the Creedence", indicating that was that the other cop took down verbatim on his report. Walter brags about filling the ransom bag with his dirty laundry, "the whites". When confronting the Big Lebowski, he rants at the greedy bastard... then politely asks for his undies back. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_fe0330fb | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_fe0330fb | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_fe0330fb | |
The Big Lebowski / int_fe3bf3a4 | type |
Four-Man Band | |
The Big Lebowski / int_fe3bf3a4 | comment |
Four-Man Band: Only Sane Man: The Dude. Despite being a Lazy Bum, he's the most level-headed of the main characters, and the one with the clearest understanding of what's really going on (sort of). The Smart Guy: The Stranger. Is Older and Wiser than the other characters, but acts like he belongs in a completely different movie and couldn't even keep his fauxlosophy straight. The Big Guy: Walter. A Fat Bastard whose Hair-Trigger Temper exasperates already bad situations. Butt-Monkey: Donny, even more so than the Dude. A Kindhearted Simpleton who is constantly betrated even by his own friends, and dies from a heart attack after the Final Battle with the Nihilists. | |
The Big Lebowski / int_fe3bf3a4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_fe3bf3a4 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_fe3bf3a4 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_name | type |
ItemName | |
The Big Lebowski / int_name | comment |
||
The Big Lebowski / int_name | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski / int_name | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Big Lebowski | hasFeature |
The Big Lebowski / int_name | |
The Big Lebowski / int_name | itemName |
The Big Lebowski |
The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.
Copyright of DBTropes.org wrapper 2009-2013 DFKI Knowledge Management. Imprint. - Thanks to Bakken&Baeck for hosting. Contact.
Copyright of data TVTropes.org contributors under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.
Copyright of data TVTropes.org contributors under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.