THE BIG LOBOWSKI

Project work done by

Student 9G class
Edward Litvinchyk
The aims:
To find out the film theme.
To discover who are casting
in the film.
What was the film budget.
The Big Lebowski is a 1998 American comedy film with
elements of noir written and directed by Joel and Ethan
Coen. Jeff Bridges stars as Jeff Lebowski, an unemployed
Los Angeles slacker and avid bowler, who is referred to
(and also refers to himself) as "The Dude". After a case of
mistaken identity, The Dude is introduced to a millionaire
also named Jeffrey Lebowski. When the millionaire
Lebowski's trophy wife is later kidnapped, he
commissions The Dude to deliver the ransom to secure
her release. The plan goes awry when The Dude's friend
Walter Sobchak (John Goodman) schemes to keep the
full ransom. Steve Buscemi, Philip Seymour Hoffman,
David Huddleston, Julianne Moore, Tara Reid and John
Turturro star in the film, which is narrated by a cowboy
known only as "Stranger," played by Sam Elliott.
 Plot

In 1991, Jeff "The Dude" Lebowski returns home only to be

roughed up by two thugs claiming to be collecting money that
Lebowski's wife owes a man named Jackie Treehorn. After
beating him and urinating on his rug, they realize they are
looking for a different person with the same name, and they
leave. At the instigation of his friend and bowling teammate
Walter Sobchak (Goodman), The Dude decides to seek
compensation for the rug from the other Jeffrey Lebowski. The
next day, the titular "Big" Lebowski, a wheelchair-bound
millionaire, refuses The Dude's request. The Dude meets Bunny
Lebowski (Reid), the Big Lebowski's nymphomaniac trophy wife,
while leaving the premises with a rug taken from the mansion.

Days later, the Big Lebowski contacts The Dude, revealing that
Bunny has been kidnapped. He asks The Dude to act as a
courier for the million-dollar ransom because The Dude will be
able to confirm whether or not the kidnappers were the same
thugs. Later, a different set of thugs enter The Dude's
apartment, knock him unconscious, and steal his new rug.
When Bunny's kidnappers call to arrange the ransom exchange,
Walter tries to convince The Dude to keep the money and give
the kidnappers a "ringer" suitcase filled with dirty underwear.
The kidnappers escape with the ringer, and The Dude and
Walter are left with the million-dollar ransom. Later that night,
The Dude's car is stolen, along with the briefcase filled with
money. The Dude receives a message from the Big Lebowski's
daughter, Maude, who admits to hiring the criminals who
knocked him unconscious. The Dude visits her at her art studio,
and she reveals that Bunny is a porn starlet working for Jackie
Treehorn. She agrees with The Dude's suspicion that Bunny
kidnapped herself and asks The Dude to recover the ransom, as
it was illegally withdrawn by her father.

The Big Lebowski angrily confronts The Dude over his failure to
hand over the money, and hands The Dude an envelope sent to
him by the kidnappers which contains a severed toe,
presumably Bunny's. The Dude later receives a message that his
car has been found. Mid-message, three German nihilists
invade the Dude's apartment, identifying themselves as the
kidnappers. They interrogate and threaten him for the ransom
money. The Dude returns to Maude's studio, where she
identifies the German nihilists as Bunny's friends. The Dude
picks up his car from the police, and he and Walter track down
the supposed thief, a teenager named Larry Sellers. Their
confrontation with Larry is unsuccessful, and the Dude and
Walter leave without getting any money or information.

Jackie Treehorn's thugs return to The Dude's apartment to

bring him to Treehorn's beach house in Malibu. Treehorn
inquires about the whereabouts of Bunny, and the money,
offering him a cut of any funds recovered. Treehorn then drugs
The Dude's drink and The Dude passes out. After a surrealistic
dream sequence blending the themes of bowling, the Persian
Gulf War, Maude’s “vaginal” art, and the nihilists, The Dude
awakens in a police car and is then placed in front of the police
chief of Malibu. The police chief physically assaults The Dude
and warns him not to return to Mailbu. After a cab ride home,
The Dude is greeted by Maude Lebowski, who seduces him.
During post-coital conversation with Maude, The Dude learns
that she hopes to conceive a child with him but wants him to
have no hand in the child's upbringing. He also finds out that,
despite appearances, her father has no money of his own.
Maude's late mother was the rich one, and she left her money
exclusively to the family charity. In a flash, The Dude unravels
the whole scheme: when the Big Lebowski heard that Bunny
was kidnapped, he used it as a pretense for an embezzlement
scheme, in which he withdrew the ransom money from the
family charity. He kept it for himself, gave an empty briefcase
to The Dude (who would be the fall guy on whom he pinned the
theft), and was content to let the kidnappers kill Bunny.

Meanwhile, it is now clear that the kidnapping was itself a ruse:

while Bunny took an unannounced trip, the nihilists (her
friends) alleged a kidnapping in order to get money from her
husband. The Dude and Walter arrive at the Big Lebowski
residence, finding Bunny back at home from her trip. They
confront the Big Lebowski with their version of the events. The
affair apparently over, The Dude and his bowling teammates
are once again confronted by the nihilists, who have set the
Dude's car on fire. They once again demand the million dollars.
After telling the nihilists what they knew, the nihilists demand
all the money in their pockets. Walter responds by biting one
nihilist's ear off, throwing a bowling ball at another's ribs, and
knocking the final nihilist unconscious with their portable radio.
However, in the aftermath, Donny has a massive heart attack
and dies.

Walter and The Dude go to a cliff overlooking a beach to scatter

Donny's ashes. After an informal eulogy which Walter turns into
a tribute to the Vietnam War and accidentally covers The Dude
with Donny's ashes, Walter suggests, "Fuck it, Dude. Let's go
bowling." The movie ends with closing comments from the
narrator at the bar of the bowling alley, who hints that Maude
may be pregnant with a "little Lebowski."