Although it wasn’t appreciated in its time, the Coen brothers’ The Big Lebowski has since become one of the most beloved comedies ever made. Arriving on the heels of the Coens’ crime masterpiece Fargo, this wacky stoner noir was initially criticized for being a tonal 180-degree turn instead of more of the same.
But this has always been the Coens’ MO. They followed up Blood Simple with Raising Arizona, and later followed up No Country for Old Men with Burn After Reading. There are a ton of hilarious characters in The Big Lebowski, but Walter Sobchak is arguably the funniest.
10 Walter Is The Funniest: He Has The Most Quotable One-Liners
There are a lot of quotable lines in The Big Lebowski — “Nobody f*cks with the Jesus,” “The word itself makes some men uncomfortable,” etc. — so it’s tough to decide which one character brings the best quotes to the table.
While the Dude has an abundance of memorable lines (“The Dude abides,” “That rug really tied the room together,” “Obviously, you’re not a golfer,”), Walter arguably has him beat (“F*ck it, Dude, let’s go bowling,” “Smokey, you are entering a world of pain,” “Shut the f*ck up, Donny!”).
9 Alternative: Brandt
Philip Seymour Hoffman is one of the greatest actors who ever lived. In movies like Capote and The Master, he gave incredibly powerful dramatic performances. But he also gave a terrific supporting comedic turn in The Big Lebowski.
He played Brandt, the titular “big” Lebowski’s right-hand man. Hoffman played every moment — even something as simple as opening a door — with a hilarious degree of theatricality.
8 Walter Is The Funniest: He Creates The Most Conflict For The Dude, Despite Being His Best Friend
The foundation of storytelling is conflict, and the Coens filled The Big Lebowski with conflicts both small (Walter telling Donny he’s out of his element) and large (the Dude being knocked out by home invaders). Everyone in the movie creates conflict for the Dude, but Walter manages to create the most, despite being the Dude's well-intentioned best friend.
He makes a scene everywhere they go, he blows the deal with the kidnappers when he throws out a ringer, his commitment to his ex-wife’s Jewish faith constantly interferes with the Dude’s plans, and his snap decision to smash up what he thinks is Larry’s sports car gets the Dude’s own car smashed up in retaliation.
7 Alternative: The Stranger
When they were seeking the perfect narrator for The Big Lebowski, the Coens put out a casting call asking for a deep-voiced Sam Elliott type and, to their surprise, Elliott himself offered to play the part.
The Stranger bookends the movie with witty monologues that flow like music thanks to Elliott’s rich voice, while his brief encounter with the Dude is a delightful exchange.
6 Walter Is The Funniest: He Has The Richest Backstory
While the Dude has a fleshed-out backstory as a member of the Seattle Seven and Jesus’ sordid history certainly make them colorful characters, Walter has the richest origin story in The Big Lebowski, and it informs some of the movie’s best moments.
Walter is constantly talking about his time serving in Vietnam and his continued loyalty to his ex-wife is a great running joke throughout the movie.
5 Alternative: Maude Lebowski
Julianne Moore plays the free-spirited daughter of Jeffrey Lebowski with a brilliant deadpan quality. She’s introduced as a conceptual artist who paints naked and later gets the Dude to impregnate her with a baby she wants him to have no contact with.
This lingering plot thread had the Coens considering a sequel called The Little Lebowski at one point, but it never came to fruition.
4 Walter Is The Funniest: His Bouts Of Rage Are Endlessly Hilarious
Walter is a hothead who often erupts into a fit of anger, which is the polar opposite of the Dude’s chilled-out, zen vibes. His bouts of rage make for some of the movie’s funniest scenes.
When Smokey’s foot goes over the line and he refuses to mark his turn zero, Walter pulls a gun on him and yells, “Am I the only one who gives a sh*t about the rules?!” When Larry refuses to own up to stealing the briefcase full of cash, Walter takes a crowbar to the sports car he thinks belongs to him. When a funeral director tries to swindle them on Donny’s cremation, he yells, “Just because we’re bereaved, doesn’t make us saps!”
3 Alternative: Jesus Quintana
One of the greatest strengths of the Coen brothers’ movies is that they can turn a relatively minor character who only appears in a couple of scenes into an icon.
In the case of The Big Lebowski’s Jesus Quintana, the hairnet-wearing pederast competing against the Dude’s team in the upcoming bowling tournament, the Coens gave regular collaborator John Turturro the freedom to develop the character with his own ideas.
2 Walter Is The Funniest: John Goodman Committed Himself Wholeheartedly To The Role
Every actor in The Big Lebowski gives a terrific performance, from Jeff Bridges to Julianne Moore to John Turturro, but arguably the cast member who commits themselves the most wholeheartedly to their role is John Goodman.
When Goodman is yelling about the things that Walter is passionate about, like battle strategies and the rules of bowling, he has plenty of palpable passion.
1 Alternative: The Dude
Determining the funniest character in The Big Lebowski ultimately comes down to the two leads, Walter and the Dude. While Goodman’s supporting turn as Walter gets the most laughs in the movie, Jeff Bridge’s religion-inspiring performance as El Duderino (if you’re not into the whole brevity thing) is a close second.
The Dude stumbles through the movie’s Chandleresque mystery plot due to a case of mistaken identity. The stakes are high for everybody else, but the Dude doesn’t have a horse in this race — he just wants to get back to drinking White Russians and bowling.
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