THE BIG LEBOWSKI DVD Coen Brothers, Steve Buscemi R4

If I can say one thing to The Big Lebowski's credit you will never see another movie like it.  It's the story of Jeff Lebowski, who prefers to be called "The Dude" (Jeff Bridges—Arlington Road). The Dude exists in his own world, where he whiles away his days drinking, smoking pot, and bowling. Bowling, it seems, is his sole purpose and goal in life. He has two bowling buddies, Walter (John Goodman—Raising Arizona) and Donnie (Steve Buscemi—Fargo). Walter reminds me of quite a few people I've known in my life. He is stuck in the past, namely in his Army days during the Vietnam War. He's also fixated on his ex-wife. Donnie…well, Donnie never gets to finish a sentence before being cut off, but it's pretty obvious that he's a few fries short of a Happy Meal.

Everything in The Dude's life is peaceful until one day two thugs break into his apartment wanting money that he owes them. They have him mixed up with another Jeff Lebowski, who happens to be a millionaire. One of the thugs relieves himself on The Dude's rug—the one that really tied the room together. So, The Dude tracks down the other Jeffrey Lebowski (David Huddleston—Santa Claus: The Movie) to be compensated for the ruined rug. He gets a replacement rug, and everything is fine…until the Big Lebowski's wife Bunny (Tara Reid—American Pie) is kidnapped. She's a young trophy wife, and owes money to a pornographer, and is also involved with a group of German nihilists. It's all very confusing.

The Dude takes an odd journey wherein he meets people that in many ways are stranger than he is. The Big Lebowski's artist daughter, Maude (Julianne Moore—Boogie Nights, Hannibal), coerces him into fathering her child. The pornographer who's the "Mr. Big" behind the story, Jackie Treehorn (Ben Gazzara—Summer Of Sam), has The Dude kidnapped and drugged, seemingly for no reason. Walter accosts a teenage boy for stealing The Dude's car and the briefcase containing the $1 million. The Big Lebowski's assistant Brandt (Phillip Seymour Hoffman—Scent Of A Woman, Boogie Nights) seems to find nothing out of the ordinary while gravely calling The Dude by his preferred name