Quirky cult comedy has drugs, language, violence, sexism.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 16+?
Any Positive Content?
Language
a lot
Characters constantly use words including "f--k," "a--hole," "s--t," "c--k," "pr--k," "ass," "bitch," and "goddamn." Slurs include "cripple," "whore," "slut," "camel f--ker," and several instances of "Chinaman."
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Characters often smoke marijuana, and The Dude is known for drinking White Russians. In one scene, he drinks beer and smokes marijuana, resulting in an accident. Cigarette smoking. A villain laces The Dude's White Russian with a drug that knocks him out.
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A woman is introduced naked before quickly being covered by a robe (her breasts are visible). She describes another character -- who's a pornographic film star -- as a nymphomaniac. The beginnings of a pornographic film are shown: A naked woman is about to have sex with a cable repairman. Someone offers to perform oral sex on The Dude for $1,000. Topless women are tossed into the air from a giant blanket at a party on the beach. In a dream sequence, The Dude floats down a bowling alley under the spread legs of dozens of short-skirted women standing over him. The Dude makes a masturbation joke.
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A character bites off someone's ear; there's a little blood. The main character gets beaten up (no blood), smacked in the head with a coffee cup, and attacked by marmot-wielding men while he's in his bathtub. A character smashes a car with a tire iron; the owner retaliates by smashing up their car in return. Cut-off little toe wrapped in gauze. A character brandishes a gun and yells threateningly at a bowling rival.
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The main character shops at a Ralph's supermarket. Characters drink Miller Lite at the bowling alley and visit and eat In-N-Out Burger. Kahlúa and Smirnoff bottles feature prominently each time the Dude mixes White Russians. A Folgers coffee can holds ashes.
Positive Messages
very little
While the movie is, on one level, a dark comedy about extortion and mistaken identity, it's also open to many interpretations, including the idea that The Dude is a kind of Zen master who "abides" through thick and thin.
Positive Role Models
very little
While essentially an unemployed slacker, The Dude is viewed by some as a kind of Zen master who "abides." Some say that Donnie is actually just a figment of Walter's imagination, and the hot-tempered military-minded Walter is believed to be modeled after the man who wrote the screenplays to Apocalypse Now and Red Dawn.
Diverse Representations
Flagged for concern
The film centers on White men. A few White women appear in supporting roles; they're treated as sex objects and are often naked. (When one woman meets The Dude, she immediately offers to give him a blow job in exchange for money.) The main characters aren't supposed to be role models -- that's part of the fun -- but neither does the movie call out their behavior. Main characters call people "Chinaman," "cripple," "whore," "camel f--ker," and other degrading terms without consequences. The Latino character of Jesus is played by an Italian American who dons a terrible "Cuban" accent and says things like "Dios mío" and "pendejo" for comedy. (Faux accents also include German and Italian.) A wheelchair user is stereotypically greedy, rich, and villainous. Another character uses an iron lung; he's also a punchline.
Parents need to know that The Big Lebowski is the cult favorite 1998 Coen brothers comedy in which Jeff Bridges plays The Dude, a laid-back slacker who gets caught up in a kidnapping and extortion scheme. There's constant profanity, especially "f--k." Saddam Hussein is referred to as a "camel f--ker," and The Dude refers to one of the men who attacked him as a "Chinaman." There's (mostly bloodless) violence, including characters getting beaten up, drugged, attacked by a marmot in the bath, and struck in the head with a coffee cup. One character bites off another's ear, and a severed pinky toe is delivered in gauze. Characters smoke pot, and The Dude is known for drinking White Russians. There's plenty of sexual content, with women appearing naked and topless in several scenes, including in a pornographic film. One character offers to perform oral sex for $1,000. The main characters aren't supposed to be role models -- that's part of the fun -- but neither does the movie call out their behavior. This translates poorly for diversity, as the film follows all White men, the only women in supporting and minor roles are treated as sex objects, and Cuban and disabled characters are portrayed offensively for humor. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails.
I thought I could handle watching this movie, but I was wrong. Mostly everybody's mouths need to be washed with soap. I'm getting headaches from hearing the constant F's. Nothing to me makes sense.
What's the Story?
All The Dude (Jeff Bridges) wants in THE BIG LEBOWSKI is more milk for his White Russians. Instead, he comes home from an all-night grocery store to an ambush by men who mistake him for Jeffrey Lebowski, a philanthropist with a wife who's racking up debts all over town. The guys shove The Dude's head in a toilet, pee on his rug, and leave the place with a threat. From there, The Dude just wants to replace his rug, which "tied the room together." The film takes viewers on a crazy ride, accompanied by his blustering Vietnam vet bowling buddy Walter (John Goodman), who gets him in even worse trouble. Will The Dude be able to recover a lost $1 million ransom? Will avant-garde artist Maude (Julianne Moore) carry his baby? And what ever happened to the pornographic actress-turned-trophy wife-turned-supposed kidnapping victim? The Dude will show you.
Nymphomania, pot, White Russians, and the search for a rug to tie his living room together set the stage in this wild ride of a movie. The Big Lebowski takes viewers through Los Angeles' underbelly, and, like other Coen brothers' movies, the story is too crazy to be believed. But it's so well done that you can't stop watching it.
The brilliance of The Big Lebowski isn't so much in the story -- though it's got plenty of twists and turns -- but in the characters and actors. Along with the two main players, there's the Oscar-winning and brilliant Phillip Seymour Hoffman, and Steve Buscemi, who uses his doe eyes to great effect here. Having sung the film's praises, it's also important to say that this is NOT a movie for kids, nor have all of its punchlines aged well over time.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about The Dude's lifestyle in The Big Lebowski. Is that something you aspire to? How would you handle a situation of mistaken identity? Would you listen to your friends the way The Dude listens to Walter?
The Big Lebowski is an example of a movie that has taken on a life of its own in terms of how the story and characters are interpreted. Do you think art is a subjective experience, or are some things objectively good or bad? Can you think of other movies or TV shows that inspire debate about their meaning?
Why is this movie a cult favorite? Does the humor still work today? Why, or why not?
MPAA explanation:
pervasive strong language, drug content, sexuality, and brief violence
Last updated:
May 14, 2024
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