*Obviously sensationalist title intended to boost views and gamrpoints.

**No spoilers in the OP, although future posts may have them**

Short Story: I'm dissapointed with the movie and confused about the fans of the movie.

A lot of people have told me that this movie was one of the funniest, most well-made films ever, but that alone is not why I'm confused. Normally, I would ignore such praise since most people have terrible tastes in movies. Thus if a movie that the average person praised just happened to actually be mediocre, then I wouldn't be surprised or confused. I'm surprised with TBL because I've heard praise of it even from relatively picky movie fans - those that don't love a movie merely because it's popular, edgy, irreverent or any other superficial and pointless factors. Even some users on VGChartz, who have relatively particular tastes in cinema, have called this movie great. Some have even called the dialogue "smart." The dialogue? Smart? The DIALOGUE? This blows my mind.

If you like simple, irreverent movies then I could perfectly understand why you would enjoy TBL. But I don't understand why users who have more discriminatory movie preferences love it so much. I'm not seeing what makes this movie any different than your average, mediocre, summer blockbuster comedy. Don't think this is just me being subjective either...For example, If I don't enjoy a critically acclaimed or popular movie, I can still objectively look at the facts and understand the appeal of the movie. For example, while I did not enjoy Gravity, the Transformers series, the Twilight series, The Avengers, The Dark Knight Rises, etc., I can perfectly understand why those movies have the acclaim and/or popularity that they have. But TBL has me extremely confused.

How can people who dislike the average modern comedy find such love in The Big Lebowski? Specifically, what sets it apart from the average, shallow, lazy comedies we see today? If you think nothing sets TBL apart from those movies, and still enjoy TBL (perhaps for that very reason), then that's okay; you and I just have different values when it comes to movie quality. But for those who believe you're a bit more selective than the average movie-goer, how is the movie - under any interpretation of the word - great?

While I agree that the movie isn't great, I think it's unfair to compare it to an "average...summer blockbuster comedy." It's definitely smarter than that. I think the problem with the movie is one of pacing and story structure, but the direction, acting, and writing is definitely above average.

If you're looking for a great Coen brothers comedy, I highly recommend Raising Arizona.

I'm not picky, but it's one of my favorite movies. Not sure what my selectiveness has got to do with that at all.

What sets it apart from most modern comedies? Everything, really. The humor and the characters are not watered down. It sticks to it's style and the era it portrays. It's spontaneous but never awkward. The actors know what they're doing and are totally into their characters. Really, I think it's up there with American Hustle as one of the all time best crime comedies.

while there is this cult following, i'd rate it a good but i rate a lot of movies good

John Goodman.

Since it's hard to point to one tangible example of good acting or "direction", I'd like you to elaborate on the writing. Name some scenes that you thought had above-average writing. I won't criticize you; I'm genuinely interested.

This confirms my suspicion

Did you read the OP? I'm curious if people love this movie because they enjoy most average movies, or if it's because they see something special in it. Based solely on my experience of the movie, I would expect it to be the former. And if it's the latter, then that would confuse me. Based on the poll, and my past experiences, it appears that the latter is true. Hence, I'm confused.

just look up the video that nostalgia critic did on it, he gives a good explanation as to why it is popular. I haven't read any of the books about the movie but I imagine that they also give good reasoning for its popularity.

link?