The Big Lebowski

The Big Lebowski is a 1998 film written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen starring Jeff Bridges as Jeffrey "The Dude" Lebowski, John Goodman as Walter, Julianne Moore as Maude Lebowski, David Huddleston as Jeffrey "The Big" Lebowski, Philip Seymour Hoffman as Brandt, and Sam Elliott as "The Stranger". Coen brothers regulars John Turturro, Jon Polito, and Steve Buscemi are also featured. The movie is widely considered to be a cult classic for its originality and direction, its eccentric characters, and its convoluted plot that centers around The Dude's earnest quest to replace his soiled living room rug.

Characters

• The Dude (Jeff Bridges) - cannabis-smoking anti-hero, whose ambition is limited to bowling and drinking White Russians (which are referred to jokingly as Caucasians). He is unemployed. He was briefly a roadie for Metallica. He is described by "The Stranger" as "The laziest man in Los Angeles County, which would put him high in the running for laziest worldwide".
• Walter Sobchak (John Goodman) - a Vietnam War vet and convert to Judaism whose mental instability provides much of the comedy of the film; he is paranoid and his constant interference in the events of the story are the impetus for much of the action. He runs his own security firm (Sobchak Security).
• Donny (Steve Buscemi) - the third member of Walter and The Dude's bowling team, forever out of touch with events and trying to catch up, and constantly being told to "shut the fuck up" by Walter.
• Jeffrey Lebowski (David Huddleston) - a wheelchair-bound multi-millionaire married to a young pretty woman, Bunny; his motives are perennially unclear. He is the "Big Lebowski" of the title.
• Bunny (Tara Reid) - Jeffrey Lebowski's wife, a young playbunny who has run away from her family in Moorhead, Minnesota; she is supposedly kidnapped, but at the end of the film it is revealed that she has merely disappeared for a weekend without telling anyone. This is the central MacGuffin for the movie.
• Brandt (Philip Seymour Hoffman) - Jeffrey Lebowski's butler, constantly nervous and echoing his boss.
• Maude Lebowski (Julianne Moore) - Jeffrey Lebowski's daughter, a feminist avant-garde artist who believes her father's "weakness has always been vanity."
• Jackie Treehorn (Ben Gazzara) - a porn film director, who used to direct movies with Bunny. He has two thugs in his employ, one of whom (Woo) micturates on The Dude's rug.
• The German nihilists - a group of ethnic Germans, led by porn star "Karl Hungus" (Peter Stormare), who claim belief in nihilism, though their actions belie this (musicians Flea of RHCP and Aimee Mann play two of the nihilists, while the fourth is played by Torsten Voges). They attempt to use the Bunny situation for financial gain. They used to be in a band called 'Autobahn', a reference to Kraftwerk.
• Jesus Quintana (John Turturro) - (pronounced "Gee-zuss") competes with The Dude and Walter at bowling, and constantly trash-talks using violent sexual metaphors to get his point across. A convicted sex offender (pederast), this character also has one of the most well known quotes of the film, "Nobody fucks with the Jesus."
• The Stranger (Sam Elliott) - The narrator of the movie, looking at Los Angeles from an outsider's perspective. He does not see The Dude as a low-life, and even makes reference to him as an ironic tragic figure: "The Dude. Takin' 'er easy for all us sinners."