SILVER

"The Dude abides." A case of mistaken identity embroils slacker Jeff "the Dude" Lebowski (a sublimely comic Jeff Bridges) in a kidnapping case and throws him into the role of hapless detective in the Coen brothers' cockeyed homage to Howard Hawks' THE BIG SLEEP. The shaggy-dog shenanigans and pixilated dialogue deliver gut-busting hilarity from start to finish; the stellar cast, all playing with great comic gusto, includes John Goodman, Julianne Moore, Steve Buscemi, Sam Elliott, Philip Seymour Hoffman and John Turturro as badass bowler "The Jesus." DIR/SCR/PROD Joel Coen, Ethan Coen. U.S./UK, 1998, color, 117 min. RATED R

AFI Member passes accepted.