Great Drunks of the Silver Screen 6.1: Just Take It Easy, Man

Name: Jeffrey Lebowski, a.k.a. The Dude
Film: The Big Lebowski

In this 1998 cult-classic, Jeff Bridges portrays one of the best on-screen slackers in recent cinematic history. Part drunk, part stoner, The Dude bowls his way through early 1990’s Los Angeles soused on White Russians and living the high life, all while being thrust into the middle of a kidnapping farce by inept henchmen who confuse him with a millionaire of the same name. Never mind that he doesn’t hold a job or can barely pay rent, these things do not deter great drunks from enjoying their lifestyle. The narrator informs us that The Dude may be the laziest person in all Los Angeles County, but that oversimplification doesn’t convey the complexity of a man able to compete for a spot in the bowling league championship, navigate the seedy underworld of porn magnate, Jackie Treehorn, and at the same time help his special lady friend conceive.

The Dude rises above all adversity, usually relying on a pretty strict drug regimen to keep his mind limber. It seems almost every scene shows The Dude enjoying his favorite drink, a “Caucasian”. I recall many times at the height of the film’s popularity when my friends and I would consume numerous of these bastards at home and the local bars, lactose-intolerant stomach be damned! Not to mention the other illicit substances glamorized on screen. Mind if I do a J? Ah, some things never go out of style…


The film had plenty of excellent characters making the Dude’s plight that much more entertaining. Props to The Nihilist, Uli Kunkel a.k.a. Karl Hungus, who downs a bottle of JD in the swimming pool and passes out cold. Yes, it is exhausting being a nihilist. Remember when Tara Reid was one of the hottest things going? The film also produced endless quotes that you probably still hear today:

“Do not fuck with the Jesus”
“This is what happens when you fuck a stranger in the ass”
"Shut the fuck up, Donnie!"
"All the dude ever wanted was his rug back"