On this day in 1998 one of the greatest cinematic masterpieces opened in theaters.
In 1991 Los Angeles, middle-aged bachelor Jeffrey "the Dude" Lebowski is assaulted in his home by two enforcers for porn king Jackie Treehorn. They demand money owed Treehorn by the wife of a different Jeffrey Lebowski. Eventually, the goons realize they have the wrong man and leave, but not before one urinates on the Dude's favorite rug.
On the advice of his bowling partners—Walter Sobchak, a vehement Vietnam veteran, and timid Donny Kerabatsos—the Dude visits the other Lebowski (the eponymous "big Lebowski"), a wealthy, paraplegic philanthropist, and demands compensation for damage to his rug. The Big Lebowski derisively refuses the Dude's demand. On leaving, the Dude craftily steals a replacement rug from Lebowski's mansion. He also meets Bunny, Lebowski's young trophy wife; he notices Bunny's toes, painted with green nail polish.
Days later, the Dude learns that Bunny has been kidnapped. The Big Lebowski hires him to deliver the ransom money and learn if the kidnappers are the same thugs who "desecrated" his rug. The Dude speculates to Walter and Donny that Bunny staged her own kidnapping to steal the ransom money and pay off her debts. Walter is immediately convinced of the theory. That night, a different pair of thugs accost the Dude and take his replacement rug.
The kidnappers arrange a meeting to collect the ransom. Still convinced that Bunny only "kidnapped herself," Walter concocts a scheme to keep the ransom money by substituting a fake briefcase full of his laundry. To his horror, the Dude watches as Walter gives the kidnappers the fake briefcase. The Dude later finds his car stolen, with the real briefcase inside.
The "big" Lebowski's daughter Maude calls the Dude, explaining that her people took the replacement rug and inviting him to visit her. She plays a video that reveals Bunny as one of Treehorn's "actresses." Maude agrees with the Dude's theory that Bunny staged her own abduction and asks the Dude's help to recover the ransom money that her father withdrew from the family's personal foundation. Later, the Big Lebowski angrily confronts the Dude for failing to deliver the ransom to the kidnappers, showing him a severed toe with green nail polish, presumably Bunny's. Three German nihiliststhreaten the Dude in his apartment; they identify themselves as the kidnappers, but Maude says they are Bunny's friends.
The Dude's car, minus the briefcase, is recovered by police; inside, the Dude finds the homework of a high school student named Larry Sellers. Walter and the Dude confront Larry at his family's home, but when he is unresponsive, Walter uses a crowbar to wreck a new sports car that he believes Larry bought with the stolen money. The car's actual owner proceeds to wreck the Dude's car in retaliation.
The Dude is brought before Jackie Treehorn, who drugs the Dude's white Russian cocktail. While unconscious, the Dude dreams about starring with Maude in a Treehorn film about bowling. Awakening in police custody, he is assaulted by the Malibu police chief and thrown out of Malibu. After being kicked out of a cab after a trivial argument about the music group the Eagles, the Dude is left standing in the street. Unbeknownst to him, Bunny speeds by in a convertible—the camera zooms in to reveal she still has all her toes. The removed toe is revealed to actually belong to a female acquaintance of the nihilists.
The Dude returns home to find his bungalow ransacked by Treehorn's goons. He is seduced by Maude, who hopes to conceive a child, but she assures the Dude that he will have no paternal liability or involvement in the child's upbringing. She explains that her father has no money of his own; the family fortune belonged to her late mother, who left none to her father.
The Dude suddenly realizes the entire scheme: after Bunny left town on an unannounced trip, her nihilist friends faked her kidnapping to extort money from her husband. Lebowski, who hated his wife, withdrew the ransom from the family trust but secretly kept the money for himself, giving the Dude a briefcase containing phone books. Walter and the Dude confront the Big Lebowski, who refuses to admit responsibility. Walter, erroneously believing the Big Lebowski is faking his paralysis, throws him from his wheelchair, leaving him on the floor.
Thinking the ordeal to be over, the Dude and his friends return to the bowling alley, only to be confronted by the nihilists, who have set fire to the Dude's car and are demanding the ransom money. Learning there never was any money, the nihilists decide to rob them, but Walter violently fends them off. During the scuffle, Donny suffers a heart attack and dies.
While preparing to scatter Donny's ashes on an oceanside bluff - using a coffee can for the ceremonial vessel, Walter delivers an informal eulogy that devolves into a speech about the Vietnam War. Unmindful of the blowing wind, he scatters Donny's ashes over himself and the Dude, who—all patience finally exasperated—complains bitterly at Walter. They reconcile and embrace. Later in the bowling alley, the Dude briefly encounters the film's cowboy narrator (billed as "The Stranger"), who tells the audience that Maude is pregnant with a "little Lebowski." The cowboy wishes the Dude and Walter luck in their bowling tournament and, speaking directly to the camera, offers that we all may take comfort in knowing that "the Dude abides."
looks like I’m drinking Caucasians tonight.
In 1991 Los Angeles, middle-aged bachelor Jeffrey "the Dude" Lebowski is assaulted in his home by two enforcers for porn king Jackie Treehorn. They demand money owed Treehorn by the wife of a different Jeffrey Lebowski. Eventually, the goons realize they have the wrong man and leave, but not before one urinates on the Dude's favorite rug.
On the advice of his bowling partners—Walter Sobchak, a vehement Vietnam veteran, and timid Donny Kerabatsos—the Dude visits the other Lebowski (the eponymous "big Lebowski"), a wealthy, paraplegic philanthropist, and demands compensation for damage to his rug. The Big Lebowski derisively refuses the Dude's demand. On leaving, the Dude craftily steals a replacement rug from Lebowski's mansion. He also meets Bunny, Lebowski's young trophy wife; he notices Bunny's toes, painted with green nail polish.
Days later, the Dude learns that Bunny has been kidnapped. The Big Lebowski hires him to deliver the ransom money and learn if the kidnappers are the same thugs who "desecrated" his rug. The Dude speculates to Walter and Donny that Bunny staged her own kidnapping to steal the ransom money and pay off her debts. Walter is immediately convinced of the theory. That night, a different pair of thugs accost the Dude and take his replacement rug.
The kidnappers arrange a meeting to collect the ransom. Still convinced that Bunny only "kidnapped herself," Walter concocts a scheme to keep the ransom money by substituting a fake briefcase full of his laundry. To his horror, the Dude watches as Walter gives the kidnappers the fake briefcase. The Dude later finds his car stolen, with the real briefcase inside.
The "big" Lebowski's daughter Maude calls the Dude, explaining that her people took the replacement rug and inviting him to visit her. She plays a video that reveals Bunny as one of Treehorn's "actresses." Maude agrees with the Dude's theory that Bunny staged her own abduction and asks the Dude's help to recover the ransom money that her father withdrew from the family's personal foundation. Later, the Big Lebowski angrily confronts the Dude for failing to deliver the ransom to the kidnappers, showing him a severed toe with green nail polish, presumably Bunny's. Three German nihiliststhreaten the Dude in his apartment; they identify themselves as the kidnappers, but Maude says they are Bunny's friends.
The Dude's car, minus the briefcase, is recovered by police; inside, the Dude finds the homework of a high school student named Larry Sellers. Walter and the Dude confront Larry at his family's home, but when he is unresponsive, Walter uses a crowbar to wreck a new sports car that he believes Larry bought with the stolen money. The car's actual owner proceeds to wreck the Dude's car in retaliation.
The Dude is brought before Jackie Treehorn, who drugs the Dude's white Russian cocktail. While unconscious, the Dude dreams about starring with Maude in a Treehorn film about bowling. Awakening in police custody, he is assaulted by the Malibu police chief and thrown out of Malibu. After being kicked out of a cab after a trivial argument about the music group the Eagles, the Dude is left standing in the street. Unbeknownst to him, Bunny speeds by in a convertible—the camera zooms in to reveal she still has all her toes. The removed toe is revealed to actually belong to a female acquaintance of the nihilists.
The Dude returns home to find his bungalow ransacked by Treehorn's goons. He is seduced by Maude, who hopes to conceive a child, but she assures the Dude that he will have no paternal liability or involvement in the child's upbringing. She explains that her father has no money of his own; the family fortune belonged to her late mother, who left none to her father.
The Dude suddenly realizes the entire scheme: after Bunny left town on an unannounced trip, her nihilist friends faked her kidnapping to extort money from her husband. Lebowski, who hated his wife, withdrew the ransom from the family trust but secretly kept the money for himself, giving the Dude a briefcase containing phone books. Walter and the Dude confront the Big Lebowski, who refuses to admit responsibility. Walter, erroneously believing the Big Lebowski is faking his paralysis, throws him from his wheelchair, leaving him on the floor.
Thinking the ordeal to be over, the Dude and his friends return to the bowling alley, only to be confronted by the nihilists, who have set fire to the Dude's car and are demanding the ransom money. Learning there never was any money, the nihilists decide to rob them, but Walter violently fends them off. During the scuffle, Donny suffers a heart attack and dies.
While preparing to scatter Donny's ashes on an oceanside bluff - using a coffee can for the ceremonial vessel, Walter delivers an informal eulogy that devolves into a speech about the Vietnam War. Unmindful of the blowing wind, he scatters Donny's ashes over himself and the Dude, who—all patience finally exasperated—complains bitterly at Walter. They reconcile and embrace. Later in the bowling alley, the Dude briefly encounters the film's cowboy narrator (billed as "The Stranger"), who tells the audience that Maude is pregnant with a "little Lebowski." The cowboy wishes the Dude and Walter luck in their bowling tournament and, speaking directly to the camera, offers that we all may take comfort in knowing that "the Dude abides."
looks like I’m drinking Caucasians tonight.
