The Big Lebowski/Trivia

• Actor Allusion: Mixed with Mythology Gag and Production Posse:
  • Detective Davino, the PI hired to find Bunny Lebowski and played by Jon Polito, expresses his admiration of The Dude's apparent playing one side against the other throughout the movie. In Miller's Crossing, Jon Polito plays a mob boss who is victim to and absolutely hates a double-cross.
  • Walter's oft-repeated line "shut the fuck up Donny!" is precisely written because Buscemi's character wouldn't shut up in Fargo.
  • John Turturro played a pederast in a play called Mi Puta Vida, which the Coens said directly inspired his character here.
  • Walter's home security business works under the slogan "Peace of Mind". In Barton Fink, John Goodman's character says he sells peace of mind.
• Creator Killer: Despite the film's critical acclaim, the box office failure of the film along with Barney's Great Adventure has been blamed for the destruction of PolyGram Films. What's more is that the studio could have avoided it all with they stayed to see the success of Notting Hill.
• The Danza: Despite The Dude's seeming similarity to Jeff Bridges, he is actually based on another friend of The Coen Brothers, Jeff "The Dude" Dowd. Both Dowd, Dude, and Bridges are named Jeffrey.
• Fake Nationality: The German nihilists played by Peter Stormare (Swedish), Flea (Australian), and Aimee Mann (American). The fourth nihilist was played by an actual German, Torsten Voges.
• Hey, It's That Guy!: Kevin Flynn is confused for Olson Johnson (who has Danni Sullivan for a trophy wife, the second Clarice Starling for a daughter and Truman Capote for an assistant), often bowls with his best friends Dan Conner and Mr. Pink while also being harrassed by fellow bowler Hispanic Barton Fink (I feel you have underestimated his sneakiness) and has his car blown up by three nihilists, two of which are Gaear Grimsrud and Needles. Oh, and the second Treehorn Thug is Jacob.
  • And it's being narrated by Virgil Earp.
  • Professor Lupin is the video artist who can't stop giggling for some reason.
  • Ranjit is the doctor Maude recommends.
  • Dieter Stark is a nihilist.
• Name's the Same: Jeff Lebowski "the Dude" and Jeff Lebowski the rich guy. Which starts the chain of troubles for the Dude.
• Playing Against Type: To some degree, John Goodman as Walter Sobchak. John Goodman's characters, when not directed by The Coen Brothers, tend to be nice, huggable jolly guys. Walter is anything but.
  • Which nearly became his type. Goodman said in an interview that a lot of the roles offer to him post-Lebowski were variations of the blustering Walter character.
  • Also, Steve Buscemi's role as a clueless, laid-back slacker who can't get a word in edgewise was written as a jokey inversion of the motor-mouthed psychopath types he'd played in Fargo and Reservoir Dogs.
    • Walter's oft-repeated line "shut the fuck up Donny!" is precisely because Buscemi's wouldn't shut up in Fargo.
• The Red Stapler: The White Russian has become somewhat legitimized as a "guy" drink thanks to this movie, as most people nowadays will just assume a man ordering one is a fan of The Dude.
• What Could Have Been: According to Reid, Charlize Theron tried out for the role of Bunny Lebowski.

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