"Coen brothers' The Big Lebowski is a genial, shambling comedy about a human train wreck, and should come with a warning like the one Mark Twain attached to Huckleberry Finn: "Persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot." … Everybody knows somebody like the Dude — and so, rumor has it, do the Coen brothers. They based the character on a movie producer and distributor named Jeff Dowd, a familiar figure at film festivals, who is tall, large, shaggy and aboil with enthusiasm. Dowd is much more successful than Lebowski (he has played an important role in the Coens' careers as indie filmmakers), but no less a creature of the moment. Both dudes depend on improvisation and inspiration much more than organization."