The Dude is special

[taz123]

Hey,

doing a research project on the fan following of the Big Lebowski and some feedback would be greatly appreciated.
So guys what do you personally find special about The Big Lebowski and why don't you think Hail Caesar has garnered some of the same fan following??

please help!

[Dude Skippy]

Don't know about Hail Caesar. I haven't seen it yet.

I like TBL because it's just like life. In both real life and the movie there's: problems, which aren't really all that important, but get blown out of proportion; there's unique characters, that don't seem so special at a glance; and there's generally a lot more going on than anyone notices without taking the time to appreciate it. Also, with the development of Dudeism, and my growing appreciation of it, I like the movie more, and watching it leaves me feeling comfortable.

[Reverend Al]

...So guys what do you personally find special about The Big Lebowski and why don't you think Hail Caesar has garnered some of the same fan following??

I obviously can't speak for anyone else, but for me a large part of the appeal of The Big Lebowski comes from it's cast.  I'm a fan of Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, Julianne Moore, Sam Elliott, John Turturro, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Peter Stormare, so I would have been surprised if I hadn't liked it.  I'm also a fan of most of the Coen Brothers' movies, so another large part of the appeal comes from their writing.  The characters they create and their often intricate yet natural wordplay makes even their "less popular" movies worth watching at least once.  So that, plus this brilliant cast, is what makes this movie special for me.

That being said, I think it's important to remember The Big Lebowski tanked at the box office.  It was only after it made it's way to cable/satellite television and DVD that it found it's audience.  I wonder why that is?  I can only speculate that the marketing for this movie was insufficient, or that most people simply didn't care for what they saw in the trailer and didn't feel the need to pay box-office prices to see it in a theater.

As for Hail Caesar!, I enjoyed it but found it somewhat lacking.  The overall story is a collection of intertwined vignettes that are connected primarily through the character Eddie Mannix, but the way they were edited together made the pacing very uneven--it didn't have the consistent flow of the story that most Coen Brothers' movies have.  Also, most of the characters are quite unlikable for various reasons.  As such, I found it difficult to care about what happened to any of them in the course of the story, and I recall walking out of the theater thinking the movie was rather pointless as a result.

[Rev. Trisha]

Don't know about Hail Caesar. I haven't seen it yet.

I like TBL because it's just like life. In both real life and the movie there's: problems, which aren't really all that important, but get blown out of proportion; there's unique characters, that don't seem so special at a glance; and there's generally a lot more going on than anyone notices without taking the time to appreciate it. Also, with the development of Dudeism, and my growing appreciation of it, I like the movie more, and watching it leaves me feeling comfortable.

broadly sums up many of my views as well. (saves time and effort for repeating them.... )

I have only seen clips from Hail Caesar, but they did not enthuse me to see it. May do some time though. But TBL got to me as so very much of the manner of making way through life was (when I look back) much as I have done. Somehow despite my best efforts otherwise. Having just rolled with things, taken it easy and drifting into opportunities rather than going out of my way to seek them. I have ended up with a reasonably contented life. Not wealthy, or famous but comfortable and having had a wealth of life experiences.

In turn Dudeism gelled nicely with my drift from a Christian upbringing through various denominations and evolutions developed from Buddhist and Taoist  (among others) influences. Which in turn enhanced my my appreciation of TBL.