Despite the initial mixed reviews, The Big Lebowski has gained a cult status over the years and continues to strike a chord with seasoned viewers of the Coen Brothers’ masterpiece and with those who approach it for the first time. The character of the Dude, portrayed stupendously by Jeff Bridges, still captures the imagination of many who dream of his laid-back and unconventional lifestyle.
This list features movies that were selected based on different reasons. Some create the same atmosphere as The Big Lebowski, at the edge between black comedy and neo-noir, while others present a similar picture of the city of Los Angeles. Moreover, movies like Dazed and Confused and Inherent Vice encapsulate certain American counter-cultural elements at the core of the Dude’s ethos of life. If you want to keep the momentum going with movies similar to The Big Lebowski, look no further.
10 Under the Silver Lake
Pastel Productions
Under the Silver Lake was written and directed by David Robert Mitchell. It stars Andrew Garfield as Sam, a guy in his thirties living carelessly in Silver Lake, a Los Angeles neighborhood. After the disappearance of a woman he met one night, Sam starts a journey through the Californian city to uncover the mystery. Mixing black comedy with a neo-noir atmosphere, Under the Silver Lake is a stylish and bizarre accomplishment.
Similar to Inherent Vice and The Long Goodbye, both on the list, this out-of-the-canon noir lives off its atmosphere and mood. The movie length might be discouraging, but it is essential to anchor and hypnotize the spectator while simultaneously providing enough time for developing the intrigues. Under the Silver Lake is a love-or-hate movie that will bore you to death or significantly impact your notion of cinema. On a final note, Garfield is superb.
9 Out of Sight
Jersey Films
Out of Sight features George Clooney as Jack Foley, a bank robber who gets caught and sent to prison in Miami. During his escape from the prison, he runs into US Marshall Karen Sisco (Jennifer Lopez), and everything changes. Despite underperforming at the box office, Out of Sight has been revalued through the years and has become one of the most know movies by Steven Soderbergh.
This movie instantly captures you with its brilliant and funny screenplay while convincing you with its more action-oriented sequences. At the same time, the cast is in great shape, and the leading actors Jennifer Lopez and George Clooney are extremely suitable for their respective parts. Out of Sight offers us an anticipation of the formula that Soderbergh will experiment with in his later Ocean’s franchise and gives us a crime comedy that shines for its playfulness and lighthearted spirit.
8 The Long Goodbye
United Artists
The Long Goodbye was directed by the great Robert Altman and featured Elliot Gould as Philippe Marlowe, the fictional hard-boiled detective created by the pen of Raymond Chandler. Marlowe receives a visit from his friend Terry Lennox (Jim Bouton), who asks him for a passage to the American-Mexican border. On the way back, Marlowe is met by two detectives, who inform him that Lennox apparently killed his wife. Not convinced, the detective decides to investigate.
The Long Goodbye is a masterpiece of the 1970s and a prominent movie in Altman’s career. It is redundant to describe in depth the technical aspects of the movie; the trademark style of the American filmmaker, for example, the large use of zoom and a slow-paced rhythm, is shining all over the movie. At the same time, cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond is just flawless in his role. A hazy and tangled cult.
7 Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Silver Pictures
Written and directed by Shane Black, who has another movie on the list, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is his directorial debut after many screenwriting successes like Lethal Weapon and The Last Boy Scout. Robert Downey Jr. is Harry Lockhart, a robber who is mistaken for an actor and sent to Los Angeles for a screen test; in his journey, he will meet private detective Perry van Shrike (Val Kilmer) and be a witness to a mysterious body hiding.
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang mixes some aspects of the neo-noir genre greatly with intense hints of black comedy, and its dialogue captures the spectators; Black crafts an intriguing and exhilarating screenplay and both Downey Jr. and Kilmer are unequaled in their respective roles. With its entertaining plot and witty dialogue, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is a solid start for Shane Black as a director and an underrated movie that should be rediscovered.
6 Inherent Vice
IAC Films
Written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson and based on the homonymous novel by Thomas Pynchon, Inherent Vice is a fascinating neo-noir set in 1970 Los Angeles. Larry Sportello (Joaquin Phoenix), nicknamed Doc, is a hippie private investigator with a passion for drugs and an anti-conformist ethos for life. One night, his ex Shasta Fey (Katherine Waterston) arrives at his house in Gordita Beach with a conspiracy theory: she suspects her wealthy lover Mickey Wolfmann (Eric Roberts) will be abducted and forcibly committed to a mental asylum.
Inherent Vice is similar to all the other movies from Anderson when it comes to the technical aspects. Robert Elswit’s cinematography is stupendous and vibrating, while the American director’s abilities behind the camera are proven out worldly. Moreover, Joaquin Phoenix fits his drug-fueled and hazy character like a glove. At the same time, Josh Brolin, impersonating the tough cop Bigfoot Bjornsen, delivers one of the best performances of his career.
5 True Romance
Morgan Creek Productions
Directed by the late Tony Scott and featuring a screenplay by none others than Quentin Tarantino, True Romance has become a cult over the years and earned the right to be considered one of the best of Scott’s filmography. Clarence Worley (Christian Slater) is on the run with his new wife Alabama Whitman (Patricia Arquette), after stealing a great amount of cocaine from her pimp Drexl Spivey (Gary Oldman).
True Romance has the merit of showcasing an energetic and vibrant directing by Tony Scott, who is always ultra visual and aesthetic in his shots, and an ensemble of actors that doesn’t commit mistakes. From the mafioso Vincenzo Coccotti of Christopher Walken to the marijuana-infused Brad Pitt’s character, the movie is full of engaging and iconic interpretations. Even though True Romance didn’t perform well at the box office in 1993, it still retains today the same charge and energy it did, and it never disappoints, viewing after viewing.
4 The Nice Guys
Shane Black has accustomed us to witty and entertaining stories mixing various genres, and The Nice Guys is nothing different. In 1977 Los Angeles, private detective Holland March (Ryan Gosling) is hired by a pornstar’s aunt to investigate her niece’s departure: she is convinced the adult actress is still alive. During his investigation, the plot thickens, and March bumps into professional slugger Jackson Healy (Russell Crowe).
The Nice Guys mixes remarkably action, noir, comedy, and thriller and delivers a tense story with many hilarious segments. At the same time, the buddy cop theme featured is perfectly encapsulated in the performances of the protagonist duo: the chemistry between Gosling and Crowe sustains the movie and brings it forward. Throughout his career, Shane Black has perfectioned his approach to the buddy movie, and The Nice Guys is just another example of his creative and humorous mind. A slapstick essential.
3 Knives Out
MRC
Written, directed, and co-produced by Rian Johnson, Knives Out sees Daniel Craig in the role of Benoit Blanc, a private investigator who is unanimously hired to investigate the mysterious death of the novelist Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer). The movie features an impressive ensemble cast comprising Chris Evans, Don Johnson, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ana de Armas, and more.
Knives Out is, first and foremost, an impressive entertainment achievement, mixing thriller and comedy beautifully. The screenplay is perfect in every detail, and the enormous cast is magnificent in bringing to life the lines crafted by Johnson; at the same time, the directing and cinematography are exceptional and, at first glance, effortless. In fact, the prowess of the American filmmaker is precisely this ability to make you think directing is easy. Knives Out will be remembered for a long time and will become a staple of the whodunit genre. All its praise is deserved.
2 Dazed and Confused
Alphaville
Dazed and Confused comes from the mind of Richard Linklater, who wrote, directed, and co-produced this coming-of-age cult of the 1990s. Following different groups of students on their last day of high school in 1976 Austin, Texas, the movie features an enormous cast of future Hollywood talents, including Milla Jovovich, Renée Zellweger, Ben Affleck, and Matthew McConaughey in one of his most famous roles.
Dazed and Confused is just a long list of epic and classic lines, one after the other, that the American filmmaker greatly put down on script. Considering that many actors were still unseasoned performers, how their great performances elevated the hilarious screenplay must be stressed. On this note, Matthew McConaughey’s “Alright Alright Alright” rendition is just mythological. Dazed and Confused is one of the best hangout movies ever made and a must-see for students who don’t know what to do with their lives. Timeless.
1 Fargo
PolyGram Filmed Entertainment
Going directly to the source doesn’t seem like a bad idea when looking for something similar to The Big Lebowski. Fargo was directed by Joel Coen and co-written with his brother Ethan, who also produced the movie. Jerry Lundegaard (William H. Macy) needs money and hires Carl Showalter (Steve Buscemi) and Gaear Grimsrud (Peter Stormare) to abduct his wife Jean (Kristin Rudrüd) and ask for a ransom. After Gaear kills a state trooper, police chief Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand) starts to investigate.
Fargo features an amazing screenplay by the Coen brothers, whose black comedic tone matches perfectly with the dreary and dull photography of Roger Deakins. Frances McDormand is unsurpassed in the role of the pregnant police officer and gives us one of her best performances ever. After almost 25 years, Fargo hasn’t missed a beat and still gets better after every view. One of the most important movies of the 1990s.
