With a resume that includes some of the greatest films ever made, such as Fargo, No Country For Old Men and Barton Fink. In addition to great films like Inside Llewyn Davis, Raising Arizona, True Grit and their latest, Hail, Caesar, the Coen Brothers have been making great movies for well over 30 years. Among all of the great movies they’ve made, The Big Lebowski stands out as their best film in a line up of Oscar winners and modern masterpieces.

Why Some People Don’t Like The Big Lebowski…

While it’s true that The Big Lebowski has become a cult classic over the years, it’s also true that many people don’t like this film and would completely disagree with me that it’s the Coen Brothers best. Many would choose either Fargo or No Country For Old Men, which are in many ways superior dramas, but the humour and wackiness of The Big Lebowski takes it for me.

I myself did not like The Big Lebowski when I first saw it on home video about a year after it was released in theatres. A teenager at the time, I simply did not understand what the movie was about, I hated all the characters and didn’t think the film was funny what-so-ever. A few years ago, I revisited this film, which I also happened to give 1 star on my Netflix account and was really taken aback by how much more I got out of it. Now I give it 5 stars.

While I know I’m not the only one who would benefit from a revisit, it still is a little disconcerting to hear that not even the Coen Brothers love The Big Lebowski. From a 2009 interview with MTV about a possible sequel staring John Turturro, Ethan Coen said of The Big Lebowski “That movie has more of an enduring fascination for other people than it does for us.” Considering that it’s a cult classic loved by many, there’s also an actual religion called Dudeism, which was inspired by the film and while The Big Lebowski gets a tremendous amount of love from so many people, it hasn’t yet from its own filmmakers.

Why The Dude Abides…

I was very happy that I gave The Big Lebowski a second chance because it’s a film that more than deserves another go. While it might not be everyone’s cup of tea, as many Coen Brothers’ films aren’t, there’s still a lot to love in The Big Lebowski and is hands down the Coen Brothers’ best film.

Why is that, you ask?

From Jeff Bridges’ performance as a bumbling stoner to John Goodman’s great one-liners to Phillip Seymour Hoffman’s uncomfortable laugh to Julianne Moore and her strange video artist friend, The Big Lebowski offers a lot for audience members to love. While it may not have one of the greatest villains in film history, that being Anton Chigurh from No Country For Old Men or that great Minnesota accent scene from Fargo, The Big Lebowski is an entertaining film with loads of humour. It also won’t make you feel depressed or terrible about yourself like No Country For Old Men and Fargo does. That is often a major complaint about the Coen Brothers dramas; they tend to be very bleak, dark and depressing.

In the end, while many consider No Country For Old Men and/or Fargo to be the better Coen Brothers’ films, I much prefer The Big Lebowski to both. It’s certainly THE FUNNIEST COEN BROTHERS’ FILM and the MOST SURREAL. While it might not be for everyone, the humour, characters, mystery and film noir influences certainly make me feel that the Big Lebowski is in fact THE BEST COEN BROTHERS’ FILM OF ALL TIME and BETTER THAN ANY OTHER FILM off of the Coen Brothers’ impressive resume.

Look out for Flea, the bass player from the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, as one of the Nihilists.