The latest film by the Coen brothers was something that I really looked forward to - perhaps too much, because I actually found it mildly disappointing in several respects. After the frenetically charged and almost perfectly realised "Fargo", anything that follows is necessarily somewhat mediocre in comparison. With that in mind, it may be easier to sit back and indulge in the lazy charms of "The Big Lebowski" - a concept largely embodied by Jeff Bridges' (once again) understated and graceful work.

The plot, a convoluted twister about kidnappings, severed toes, missing loot, broken trusts, bowling and German nihilists, is merely an apparatus for the demented film-making duo to mount their lively on-goings onscreen. There's the world's first point-of-view from a bowling ball shot, a drug-induced Busby Berkeley musical number, a creepily seductive pedophiliac bowler (perfectly embodied by John Turturro - who was just amazing in Tom DiCillo's "Box of Moonlight" and Diane Keaton's "Unstrung Heroes"), more double-crosses than "Wild Things" and a handful of very fine performances by the large and talented cast. The plot doesn't really matter - it's the texture, mood and feel of the film that counts, and the Coens have successfully captured a laid-back feel which makes the intermittent violence and often hilarious situations which erupt onscreen pleasurable.

They are helped greatly by the twin lead performances of Bridges and Goodman. Both actors command the screen in their own way: the former by inhabiting his character so fully and completely that all memories of his earlier outings as pseudo-glamourous men is entirely erased to the full service of this film, the latter by creating a grating and garishly different caricature far removed from his earlier screen personalities. The two share an easy companionship onscreen, and the sometime addition of Coen regular Buscemi (yet again playing a character who winds up being VERY badly treated in the script) completes a comic trio who are at once infuriating and lovable. Moore, somewhat under-used, affects an arch accent as a feminist performance artist, another caricature which she gleefully skewers with a poker-faced expression and an over-the-top, broad comic feel (watch out for the scene with David Thewlis - it is absolutely wonderful). The rest of the large cast does very well; of peculiar note is the casting of Flea in a role which utilises none of his personality, and the inclusion of Aimee Mann, the former lead singer of 'Til Tuesday and sometime solo artist in a tiny miniscule role - trimmed in the cutting room floor, perhaps?

"The Big Lebowski", whilst not quite as gloriously giddy and fantastically fiendishly fun as "Fargo" has much to offer nonetheless. Bridges, as usual, delivers the goods, and he's backed up by a wonderful cast of actors who play some of the freshest and most interesting characters ever brought to the screen. Definitely worth a look and enjoyable if your expectations aren't unnaturally high.

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