History Film / TheBigLebowski

** As [[https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-the-big-lebowski-1998 Roger Ebert points out,]] since the titular millionaire is "the Big Lebowski," The Dude is "the Little Lebowski." Both of the movie's hallucination sequences feature The Dude being miniaturized, becoming a literal "Little Lebowski:" in the first he gets stuck inside a bowling ball, and the second sees him walking down a giant hallway. And in the final scene [[spoiler: The Stranger refers to The Dude's unborn child as a "little Lebowski."]]

** And yet, when Walter's done holding someone at gunpoint over an [[DisproportionateRetribution alleged bowling foul]], he unloads the pistol by [[ShownTheirWork removing the magazine and then racking the slide to clear the chamber]]. Even so, rather than point it in a safe direction while doing this, he instead points it at half of the people in the bowling alley.

* BabiesEverAfter: "I happen to know that there's a Little Lebowski on the way." [[spoiler:Weirdly subverted, though, since Maude makes it clear that she wants nothing to do with the Dude after the child is born, and just wanted him to impregnate her so she wouldn't have to run into the father of her child everywhere she went]]. ItMakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext.

** As [[https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-the-big-lebowski-1998 Roger Ebert points out,]] since the titular millionaire is "the Big Lebowski," The Dude is "the Little Lebowski." Both of the movie's hallucination sequences feature The Dude being miniaturized, becoming a literal "Little Lebowski": in the first he gets stuck inside a bowling ball, and the second sees him walking down a giant hallway. And in the final scene [[spoiler: The Stranger refers to The Dude's unborn child as a "little Lebowski."]]

* StealthPun: Bunny's license plate reads "LAPIN", which is French for "rabbit", or "bunny".

** Uli Kunkel's band ''Autobahn'' is a huge nod to Kraftwerk, not just because of the lookalike cover, but also "Autobahn" is the title of one of Kraftwerk's best-known songs.

* RedHerring: [[spoiler:Da Fino, the guy following The Dude around in the VW, turns out to have nothing to do with the conspiracy - he's actually following it around.]]

This being a Coen Brothers movie, though, the plot isn't what's important. The driving force of the movie is the bunch of various bizarre characters, almost all of whom seem to come from different movies.

!!Well, sir, it's these tropes I had. They really tied the page together:

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the-big-lebowski.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:The Dude abides.]]

* GenreMashup: It's a StonerFlick masquerading as FilmNoir, while the narrator insists it's TheWestern, and its various characters [[GenreRefugees are archetypes from other genres, like the seething war vet and the cocky sports rival.]]

-->"You mean... coitus?"

-->"''Ja'', maybe we stomp on it and skvoosh it!"\\\

* IHaveYourWife: Bunny, the millionaire Lebowski's wife is kidnapped. [[spoiler: Or is she? In fact, it turns out that no, she isn't.]]

--> '''Big Lebowski:''' I don't blame anyone for the loss of my legs! Some Chinaman took them from me in Korea!

--> '''Stranger:''' Do you have to use so many cuss words?\\

* IronicEcho: [[spoiler: The Dude, having turned the tables on The Big Lebowski]]: "Where's the fucking money, Lebowski?"

* MoodWhiplash: [[spoiler: Donny's death]]. After two hours of intrigue and crazy drug-fueled antics, Walter and the Dude have nothing left to do but [[spoiler: solemnly mourn a man who spent the entire movie as a punching bag]]. The movie ends with [[spoiler: the two of them in the bowling alley again, quietly contemplating their lives]].

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: At the end of the movie, you know that the mood is ''really'' low in the wake of [[spoiler: Donny's death]] when '''[[HairTriggerTemper Walter]]''' actually stops screaming about Vietnam for a minute and tenderly apologizes to The Dude for his behavior.

-->"Where's the fuckin' money, Lebowski?"
* PizzaBoySpecialDelivery: Watching ''Logjammin'''
--> '''Maude:''' You can imagine where it goes from here.\\

--> '''Dude:''' And, you know, has it ever occurred to you, that, instead of, uh, you know, running around, uh, uh, blaming me, you know, given the nature of all this new shit, you know, I-I-I-I... this could be a-a-a-a lot more, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, complex, I mean, it's not just, it might not be just such a simple... uh, you know?\\

** In fact, [[spoiler: virtually every single lead The Dude and Walt follow turns out to have nothing to do with anything]].
* TheReveal: [[spoiler: There was no kidnapping plot and no ransom money. Bunny was just off visiting friends, and Lebowski pretended to have a million dollars given to the Nihilists, giving him a reason to withdraw money out of one of his 'charities' and get rid of two loose ends bothering him.]]
* RiddleForTheAges:

** The [[ChronicallyCrashedCar various acts of violence]] done to [[TheAllegedCar The Dude's car]], culminating in [[spoiler: the nihilists setting it on fire at the end]].

---> "Oh, 'fuck it!' Yes, that's your answer. That's your answer for everything. Tattoo it on your forehead."

---> "That's your answer to everything."

*** Likewise, Walter's "GoodNightSweetPrince" in [[spoiler: Donny's eulogy]].

* YouCanKeepHer: How Lebowski ''really'' feels about [[spoiler: his wife getting kidnapped, and the reason why he feels no qualms pocketing the ransom money and setting the Dude up to take the fall.]]

** When filing a police report for both his stolen rug and car, The Dude mentions that his tape deck and "[[MusicCreedenceClearwaterRevival the Creedence]]" were also taken. When he later goes to retrieve his car from the LAPD impound, the officer remarks that he was lucky the thief left "the tape deck and the Creedence", indicating that was that the other cop took down verbatim on his report.

** Also, Walter calls out The Dude for using the racial slur "Chinaman", but used the word in the sentences directly preceding and following said calling-out, and is perfectly fine with using the slur "kraut" in casual conversation. He also refers to Iraqis as "towelheads" at one point.

'''And, I don't like''' you. '''Jerk-off'''.

* BerserkButton: The cab driver freaks out and bodily throws the Dude out of his cab [[SeriousBusiness just for insulting]] Music/TheEagles.

* BrickJoke: Walter and Donny praise the In-N-Out Burger in North Hollywood where the Dude located the kid who stole his car. After the Dude's car gets trashed by an angry neighbor, we cut to the three heroes riding in the car with Walter and Donny eating burgers.

* DirtyCop: The "fuckin' fascist" chief of police of Malibu, a real reactionary who assaults the Dude after he is drugged and ejected from Jackie Treehorn's party.

* DoYouWantToCopulate: "Do you like sex, Mr Lebowski?"

* EruditeStoner: The Dude. Has "the occasional acid flashback".

** Walter's first scene is conversing with the Dude about the first home invasion and spouting off various theories and odd phrases, showcasing his {{Cloudcuckoolander}} personality.

** Also: "I said WE'LL CUT OFF YOUR CHONSON!"

** While the Dude and Walter bicker in the car after Walter pulled a gun on Smokey, you can see cops pull into the lot and run into the bowling alley in response to the incident being called in.

* GambitPileup: [[spoiler:Subverted when ''very'' [[ShaggyDogStory little of it ends up mattering]].]]
* GenreMashup: It's a StonerFlick masquerading as FilmNoir, while the narrator insists it's TheWestern.

** The nihilists believe they're in a quirky-but-dark Tarantino-inspired crime thriller about a gang of eccentric {{Villain Protagonist}}s, and that ''they're'' the protagonists in question.

** Donny is just an ordinary guy who thinks he's in a slightly eccentric bowling team but has an otherwise normal life. He's probably the most wrong out of all of them.

* ManlyTears: "Do my tears surprise you? Strong men also cry, Mr. Lebowski. Strong men...also cry..." Possibly a subversion since you never see his tears [[spoiler: indicating that he either knows she kidnapped herself or that he actually doesn't care about her]].

** While not necessarily a hero, pretty much everyone the Dude encounters seems to have wandered in from another movie which is going on off-screen; Jackie Treehorn is the crime boss in a thriller, the nihilists seem to be Tarantinoesque crime caper SociopathicHero

* HeroOfAnotherStory: Da Fino. The ''real'' PrivateDetective who [[spoiler:follows The Dude under the assumption he's an investigator like him to return Bunny to her parents.]] The Dude only meets him face to face once.

** Also, Walter calls out The Dude for using the racial slur "Chinaman", but used the word in the sentences directly preceding and following said calling-out, and is perfectly fine with using the slur "kraut" in casual conversation.

''The Big Lebowski'' is a CultClassic directed by Creator/TheCoenBrothers. [[GenreBusting It's a bit hard to]] [[JustForFun/DescribeTopicHere describe,]] but let's call it a FilmNoir parody. The film was released on March 6, 1998.

Selected to UsefulNotes/NationalFilmRegistry for preservation as "culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant" in 2014.