The Big Lebowsky and Twenty Bucks

The Big Lebowsky (1998) - Watch out, the Dude is on a mission.

I have been fan of the Coen bros and been partial to even their less than perfect work, you can call me a fan. Of all of Coen bros movies, I had missed watching this one, however I had heard a lot of about it, both positive and negative but never got chance to see it after it's theatrical release in US in 1998 when I was there. Now due to it's strong psychedelic content, it was never released in India or shown on TV. There is no nudity or violence yet as the drug abuse is depicted (not exactly glorified) it was never released for all the conservative mediums. Actually it is movie with the point of view of our hero, who is The Dude and doesn't miss a chance to be 'high'. He is a slacker, a bum and a goofy character with bunch of cool yet looser friends who dont give a hoot about the world, morality and heroism. The story is nothing to write home about (actually this movie, you can not write home about), it's the witty characters and lines that makes this movie special. I was in splits watching the John Goodman character, our own The Dude (yes, he calls himself that), Jeff Bridges is not bad either, he sleeps-walks the role and for this instance, it is actually a . There are other bunch of crazy characters and are superhigh. And yes, I loved the music, the absurd dream sequences and the carpet that held the room together. Not recommended for everyone, viewers discretion advised, for the rest, it is enjoyable ride about nothing. (8/10)


Twenty Bucks (1993) - The journey of a twenty dollar bill
I had the DVD of this movie for a long time but I never got around seeing it until I saw it's promo for the Sony Pix. I decided to dig this DVD down and watch it last weekend. The cast is endless, there are so many big names like Brendan Fraser, Elisabeth Shue, Steve Buscemi, Christopher Lloyd, Jeremy Piven, David Schwimmer, William H Macy and so many other. It is a story about the fresh twenty bucks from the ATM machine and it's journey in this world. There are atleast 10 stories interconnected with each other without the characters knowing about it and the connecting point is the Twenty bucks.

The script was very tight and some of the stories were less interesting than the others but overall a good effort. I liked the story of the two conmen with contrasting personalities, the best. It is nothing great but a good watch. (6/10).