INDEPENDENT FILM FOR INDEPENDENT MINDS

The Dude (Jeff Bridges) is a down- and-out, unemployed drifter who is still mentally mired in the '60s. He spends his days moping around his apartment, doing nothing and puffing on joints. On rare occasions, he makes his way over to the bowling alley for a league game with his two best friends: Walter (John Goodman), a Polish Catholic Jew who still suffers from post-traumatic stress from his days in Vietnam, and Donny (Steve Buscemi), a meek moron. Most of the time, however, The Dude is content to stay at home, which is why he's known as the laziest man in Los Angeles County. That is, until a group of inept crooks confuse him with The Big Lebowski (David Huddleston), one of the city's richest businessmen. It seems that Bunny Lebowski (Tara Reid), The Big Lebowski's ornamental wife, owes a great deal of money to porn producer Jackie Treehorn (Ben Gazzara). Treehorn's men mistake The Dude (whose real name is also Lebowski) for their quarry - and it takes them a while to realize their error (they're not Rhodes scholars). Irritated that his carpet has been ruined by the intruders, The Dude arranges a meeting with The Big Lebowski to extract compensation. But things don't go exactly as planned. Soon, The Dude finds himself on Lebowski's payroll as the bag man handling the ransom for his employer's kidnapped wife. But the ever-pragmatic Walter thinks The Dude should keep the money. Maude Lebowski (Julianne Moore), The Big Lebowski's daughter, wants the money returned to her family. Meanwhile, some innocent thief steals The Dude's car, where the money is being stored. And, to top matters off, there's some question about whether Bunny is really in any danger.