It is the 20th anniversary of the Coen Brothers seminal The Big Lebowski. A film released when I was a youthful 17 years old that really blew my mind with how inventive and funny the Coen’s could be and made me a life long fan of their unique vision.

The story is in the mould of one of Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe detective stories in that it is both insanely convoluted and at the same time incredibly simple. The Dude (Jeff Bridges) shares the same name with Jeffrey Lebowski (David Huddleston). When The Dude is mistakenly assaulted by some thugs who believe his wife owes their boss money they urinate on his rug (which really held the room together) and he seeks restitution from The Big Lebowski. Kidnap, ransoms, estranged family members and most importantly, bowling then play out to the backdrop of America during the Gulf War. Add to that the mythic quality of the story being narrated by Sam Elliott’s Stranger and you have a cult classic.

The key to the success of this comedy is the vast array of hilarious character. Jeff Bridges laid back stoner is a joy to behold but he is joined by Philip Seymour Hoffman’s uptight Brandt, John Turturro’s slimy Jesus Quintana, Ben Gazzara’s porn magnate Jackie Treehorn, John Goodman’s Vietnam veteran Walter Sobchak, Steve Buscemi’s innocent Donny and Julianne Moore’s artist Maude Lebowski to name just half a dozen!

The humour is endlessly inventive and repeated views will uncover new appreciation for subtlety’s not spotted on initial watches. Some of my personal favourites are the dream sequences The Dude has, with Gutterballs being my particular highlight. Legendary cinematographer Roger Desmond was in charge of photography and his fake pornography featuring bowling and Julianne Moore as a Valkyrie is sublime.

To cap it all off the film is eminently quotable and a work of absolute genius, but that’s just like, my opinion, man.