In Jeff ‘The Dude’ Lebowski, the Coen Brothers have created their most gratifying character to date, the quintessial slacker ‘The Dude’. Not only is this classic Coen Brothers, it’s exemplary Jeff Bridges.

Apart from psychedelic dream sequences with a bowling twist, it’s the wealth of great characters and their insane dialogue that make this a memorable film. John Goodman’s Vietnam Vet, The Dude’s bowling buddy, is in part responsible for the mayhem, but he also gives colour to The Dude’s everyday life, as does a mawkish Steve Buscemi and John Turturro’s absurd Latino child-molester, Jesus Quintana. There are others, too many to mention, not least those populating the world a million miles from The Dude’s leisured life and his ruined rug.
– Nick Hilditch, BBC Films