90s Movie Review - The Big Lebowski

Director: Joel Coen
Genre: Comedy/ Crime
Runtime: 117 minutes
Year: 1998
Starring: Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Julianne Moore, Steve Buscemi, Philip Seymour Hofman, Tara Reid, John Turtorro, Sam Elliot, John Polito

Description: "The Dude" Lebowski (Jeff Bridges), mistaken for a millionaire Lebowski, seeks restitution for his ruined rug and enlists his bowling buddies to help get it.

Review: After “Fargo” in 1996, the Coen Brothers had to try and equal or top their masterpiece. The story of “The Big Lebwoski” sounds like it’s going all over the place. But that doesn’t mean they can’t make another masterpiece.
The sultry voiceover of a nameless cowboy leads us from a deserted prairie to a big American city: Los Angeles. Main character Jeff “The Dude” Lebwoski (Jeff Bridges) is a jobless loser who goes through life smoking weed and bowling with his two friends Walter (John Goodman) and Donny (Steve Buscemi). But his eventless life is soon to be over, when two criminals mistake The Dude for some millionaire with the same name. They shove his head down the toilet and pee on his rug, but The Dude manages to convince the criminals that they’ve got the wrong person. The Dude tries to find the other Jeff Lebowski and demands a new rug. But now he is part of a complicated kidnapping case. 
The film is filled with strange yet unforgettable characters: feministic artist Maude, bowling king Jesus, porn boss Jackie Treehorn and off course the trio The Dude, Donnie and Walter themselves.
“The Big Lebowski” is a great crime comedy, equally as good as “Fargo”. The Dude abides!

Rating: 5/ 5
 

100 Movie Challenge 2016 - # 52: Quiz Show

Director: Robert Redford
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 125 minutes
Year: 1994
Starring: John Turtorro, Rob Morrow, Ralph Fiennes, Paul Scofield, Hank Azaria, David Paymer, Christopher McDonald, Paul Guilfoyle, Mira Sorvino

Description: A young lawyer, Richard Goodwin (Rob Morrow), investigates a potentially fixed game show. Charles Van Doren (Ralph Fiennes), a big time show winner, is under Goodwin's investigation.

Review: Director Robert Redford tells us the story of a memorable happening in TV history. “Quiz Show” starts with the television show “21”, a very tough trivia game. Contestant Herbie Stempel has been undefeated for weeks. The behavior of the somewhat geeky Stempel starts to annoy the producers of the show. When they meet Charles van Doren they have an idea: Van Doren is going to become the new winner of “21”. They give Van Doren all the answers and he will beat Stempel and be the new champion. Untill Dick Goodwin wants to find out the real truth behind the quiz show.
Nowadays people have probably already forgotten about this event, but at the end of the film you do wonder how this could have happened. And you also start questioning today’s quiz shows.
The best about “Quiz Show” is how director Redford managed to avoid the stereotypical good and bad characters. Ralph Fiennes is supposed to be the bad guy in the story, but his character us actually very kind and likeable. And John Turtorro is the good guy or hero, but his character Herbie Stempel is very unpleasant. Turtorro is very strong as Herbie Stempel and Ralph Fiennes as Van Doren is also excellent. Rob Morrow, who plays Dick Goodwin, is solid but his character is missing a bit of depth. The film is mainly about Fiennes and Turturro’s characters.
“Quiz Show” shows corruption in TV land, pretty impressive film directed by Robert Redford.

Rating: 3,5/ 5