The Big Lebowski

The semi-deification of The Dude as a pop culture icon, an effort mostly put forth by boring people who can pull off a convincing facsimile at costume parties, works to obscure something many might not know about “The Big Lebowski”: that it’s an incredibly funny film about more than a relaxed hippy doing hippy crap. Indeed, this is, of all things, a parody of film noir, complete with convoluted plot twists, dangerous dames, and narration that better recalls Calvin & Hobbes than “The Third Man”. Its muted reception on first release now seems like dust in the wind, or something.

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