You better not come into this movie hoping for a plot.  The idea of the movie is to see our hero truck around LA and witness a society that is seemingly sober but could be even more loaded then our stoner guide is.

Jeffrey Lebowski is "The Dude" he bowls on a bowling team, writes post dated checks for 99 cents, meditates and spends his days hanging out and getting high.  One day some toughs wanting money break into his house and before they leave ruin his favorite rug, the one that tied the room together.  The Dude learns that they were looking for a millionaire with the same name as his and The Dude is on a quest to get a new rug and gets wrapped up in a scheme when the millionaire Lebowski's trophy wife goes missing.

The Dude quickly meets all sorts of strange and unique characters in the wildlife that is LA from performance artists, porn stars and even The Dude's landlord a meek man who is an aspiring actor.  Even his bowling partners are odd, one is a Vietnam vet turned security systems salesman Walter Sobchack who is so sure of everything until he's proved wrong and Donny who can bowl a great game and is seemingly normal but has trouble getting words out edge wise.

While it's billed as a comedy, it's not laugh out loud funny outside of a few moments and great lines, my favorite involving Walter's logic in not bringing a pet bowling.  The entertainment is seeing the characters and their offbeat attitudes.

Surreal at it's best and popular enough to warrant "Lebowskifests" across the country.  The Big Lebowski is more entertaining then it is funny so I hope you don't buy into plenty of hype in thinking it's a scream a minute.  If you must scream, scream at the wildlife during the trip.  Whether it's the drug trip or the safari trip, it's up to you.