Awesome moments in The Big Lebowski.
- The movie itself counts as one for The Coen Brothers. Name another of their works that comes half as close to the levels of insanity and awesomeness that this one does. Easily one of the most awesome movies ever, making it a prime example of Moment of Awesome in filmmaking. Maybe the Coens themselves don't personally consider it among their best films, but that's just, like, their opinion, man.
- Walter, after spending most of the movie being a hot-headed load who generally gets the Dude into more trouble than necessary, finally proves himself useful with a Let's Get Dangerous! moment in which he confronts the Nihilists, who are threatening him, the Dude, and Donny, for money. Not only does he pretty accurately see that they're mostly bark rather than bite ("Are they gonna hurt us, Walter?" "No, it's alright, Donny; these men are cowards.") and that they're mainly Wangsty poseurs ("Fair?! Who's the fucking nihilists around here, you bunch of fucking crybabies?!"), but he proceeds to more-or-less single-handedly hand each of them their asses when things finally get physical. ("ANTI-SEMITE!!!"):Nihilist: Okay. So we take ze money you haf on you, und ve calls it eefen.
Walter: [Tranquil Fury] Fuck you.
The Dude: Hey, no, come on, Walter. We're ending this thing cheap, man.
Walter: No, what's mine is mine.
Nihilist: No funny shtuff.
The Dude: Alright, alright, I've got four dollars, almost five...
Donny: Hey, I got eighteen dollars.
Walter: What's mine is mine.
Nihilist: We fuck you ups, man. We takes the money.
Walter: Come and get it.
[Ass-kicking commences]- This is one of the very few times in the movie where Walter isn't being a loudmouthed blowhard who just makes things even worse for everyone; he's completely calm, cool and collected. He's usually a pompous jerk, sure, but as the nihilists learn the hard way, when he actually calms down, it's time to get scared.
- Also, even though he is a loud-mouthed, over-reacting asshole, every single theory Walter advances ends up being absolutely correct.
- The utter ease with which he delivers the ass-kicking of the nihilists deserves further mention. Without breaking a sweat, Walter takes out one by hurling a bowling ball at his chest, then he punches out the sword-wielding one and proceeds to bite off his ear, and finally he beats the one attacking the Dude with his own boombox. The nihilists had no idea that they were Bullying a Dragon.
- The Dude also gets one in this scene when, after the nihilists threaten to kill the girl if they don't get the money, he snaps "You don't have the fuckin' girl, dipshits! We know you never did!"
- The Dude, after being passive and laid-back for the entire movie, gets one when he figures out the scheme and storms into the Big Lebowski's home and confronts him with the truth of what he's done:The Dude: You thought that Bunny had been kidnapped and you were fuckin' glad, man. You could use it as an excuse to make some money disappear. All you needed was a sap to pin it on! You'd just met me! You human... paraquat! You figured 'Oh, here's a loser', you know? A deadbeat, someone the square community won't give a shit about.
The Big Lebowski: Well, aren't you?
The Dude: [Almost proud] Well, yeah!- And, of course, his line that opens that scene, where he finally gets to say the phrase he'd been the catcher for all movie and throw it in someone's face.The Dude: Where's the fucking money, Lebowski?
- Capping off the scene is Walter, who puts the fear of God into the Big Lebowski by tossing the guy out of his wheelchair (this movie managed to make a MOA by throwing a disabled man out of a wheelchair). After The Big Lebowski put The Dude through hell over a fake kidnapping, it was nice to see him get some kind of comeuppance.
- Actually, when you think about it, the Big Lebowski barely gets anything out of his whole gambit: he never gets the money, Maude now has even more leverage over him, he wasted probably a ton of money on the whole thing, and he hasn't gotten rid of Bunny. If anything, he's now even worse off than where he started.
- And, of course, his line that opens that scene, where he finally gets to say the phrase he'd been the catcher for all movie and throw it in someone's face.
- "Jesus" (the pederast bowler) has something of a Moment of Awesome when he tells off Walter— "You pull any of your crazy shit with us, you flash a piece out on the lanes, I'll take it away from you, stick it up your ass and pull the fucking trigger till it goes 'click.'" And Walter has no retort.
- Although Walter might claim a Moment of Awesome back from him; once Jesus has strutted off, Walter's nonchalant mutter of "Eight-year-olds, Dude," to the Dude (reminding everyone that Jesus is a convicted pederast) suggests that he's unimpressed despite the bluster, and simply finds Jesus and his taunts not worth responding to. Which, in light of the fact that throughout the movie Walter will otherwise respond to any insult, real or imagined, with bombastic Hair-Trigger Temper sensitivity, perhaps gives an indication for the sheer level of contempt he views Jesus with.
- Early on, if you listen carefully, you'll hear Walter refer to The Jesus and his partner as lightweights. After Walter thrashes the three nihilists, one suspects that if Jesus tried anything, Walter would flatten him with one punch.
- The Dude somehow manages to make a Lame Comeback one by offering it in an utterly unconcerned fashion in the face of Jesus' bluster:Jesus: You ready to be fucked, man? I see you rolled your way into the semis. Dios mio, man. Liam and me, we're gonna fuck you up.
The Dude: Yeah, well, you know, that's just like... uh... your opinion man.
- Maude Lebowski: "Love me, Jeffrey." And as it happens, she ends up knocked up (as planned) from that one-night stand.
- And how can anyone forget after receiving a verbal beating by The Big Lebowski, The Dude, calm as ever, just puts on his sunglasses and delivers a perfectly cool "Fuck it." He then walks out, closing the door as the Big Lebowski is in mid-sentence.
- He then gets away with stealing The Big Lebowski's rug.
- The Big Lebowski's pain, grief, and anger when he confronts The Dude with the severed toe, when you realize he's faking. If he even believes Bunny is kidnapped, he has no intention of paying the ransom to get her back as long as he has The Dude to take the blame for the missing money; he's just putting on a show for Brandt, or maybe even just The Dude. Makes you wonder if that leg twitch when Walter throws him on the floor was an acting mistake...
- The Dude's complete No-Sell of the Malibu Police Chief's tirade against him.Chief Kohl: Mr. Treehorn draws a lot of water in this town. You don't draw shit, Lebowski. Now we got a nice, quiet little beach community here, and I aim to keep it nice and quiet. So let me make something plain. I don't like you sucking around, bothering our citizens, Lebowski. I don't like your jerk-off name. I don't like your jerk-off face. I don't like your jerk-off behavior, and I don't like you, jerk-off. Do I make myself clear?
(long pause)
The Dude: I'm sorry, I wasn't listening. (Kohl beans him in the face with a coffee cup) OW! Fucking fascist! - The Dude is very good at throwing someone's words right back in their face. After Maude's pretentious speech involving feminist sexuality and men's supposed fear of the word "vagina," Maude makes a reference to Bunny Lebowski staring in "that beaver picture." The Dude responds, "You mean vagina?"
- Maude shows The Dude part of a porno produced by Jackie Treehorn called Logjammin', which is laughably bad, even by porn standards. Later, when Treehorn tries to define himself as a publisher of erotica and political commentary, The Dude casually fires back, "Which one's Logjammin'?"
- The Dude's first line, while being drowned in his own toilet by a pair of thugs looking for money.It's... it's... it's down there somewhere. Let me take another look.
- He then proceeds to snark at the goons by pointing out that he's clearly not a millionaire and making fun of them for not recognizing a bowling ball, The Dude gives no shits.
