My problem with so-called comedies like The Big Lebowski is when you have something very "un-funny" occur within the premise of the story. I'm not talking about a bad guy falling off a cliff in his car (which is pretty funny), or a girl getting bashed in the face with a hard-packed snowball (which Lauren Holly took in great stride), but what I am talking about is something disgusting like some guy getting his ear bit off!

Scenes like that ruined The Big Lebowski for me. There's no comedy in John Goodman doing something like that to a person - is there? That kind of stuff is reserved for bloody thrillers written and directed by Quentin Tarantino.

There are other comedies that have "real horrors" attached to them that I can't think of at the moment. What are some others?

It's all in context of the film. To keep the discussion on Coen Brothers movies, the kidnapping of an infant is pretty horrific...yet within the context of Raising Arizona it was funny. In O Brother Where Art Thou a man is nearly lynched by the KKK, and that scene is played for laughs as well.

How about when the guy got doodie smeared in his face in Nacho Libre? I thought that was unnecessary. The disgusting nature of the stunt took all humor out of it for me.

To each their own. Coen brothers movies can go either way at any time.

Good comedies have most of their laughs come from their characters.

Not so good comedies have most of their laughs come from situations.

While situations can be funny the first time, they get less funny each time you see them. Character-based humor, however, actually gets funnier the more you see it.

While Lebowski is essentially a comedy, that particular scene isn't necessarily played for laughs (though I find it funny since both Goodman and the nihilists are such buffoons), it's an interesting display of character.

Fargo

Fight Club is a rather brutal comedy.

I thought it was hilarious, but many people had this problem with Very Bad Things.

Also, though it is one of my favorite movies, I know many people who are put off by Grosse Pointe Blank because of a couple of fairly violent sequences.

Good point. That movie has far more disturbing stuff than any Coen Brothers comedy.

I too thought Very Bad Things was hillarious.

Yeah, I agree. The scene being referred to in The Big Lebowski features a group of guys who have threatened to castrate our main character, have just torched his car, have cut off a female companion's toe as a part of their plot, and are wielding swords. Goodman's character has been set up as a psycho himself, so seeing him bite off one of these guy's ears is neither a big surprise nor out of character. In fact, the only reason it is funny is because we know what a psycho he is.

I'd say the only aspect of Lebowski that sticks out to me as being overly serious compared to how everything else plays out, is Donnie's death. I don't know that that was necessary, although they did still manage to turn it into comedy, particularly during the scattering of the ashes.

DITTO. And Big Lebowski rules.

THe Big Lebowski is the one movie that can really make me feel better and lighten my mood. There have been plenty of times I've came home from a very bad day and sat down to watch this movie with a few drinks and walked away with a smile on my face.

My problem with comedies like "THE BIG LEBOWSKI"...






...is that there aren't more of them.

if you thought Fargo was a comedy, then you are a scary person.

The first time I watched Very Bad Things with my wife it was amazing to see her laugh as I just sat there shocked. I grew to really like the film but that first viewing was tough to deal with.

I never really thought too much about the ear biting because Walter is pretty unstable and it never seemed too far out of character. He talks about getting a severed human toe so the guy certainly has issues.

LOL! That is THE scene that stands out the most (aside from the traumatic ear removal).

I think you are more turned off by your own expectations of what you think a comedy should contain, rather than the movie itself. If there are any rules for what a comedy should do, the Coen Brothers break the rules all the time. You seem to be butting up against what you believe should exist in a Comedy Film, instead of just going with the flow of what is being presented to you.

Well, comedy to me doesn't involve blood or goriness. People die in comedies, but its usually either off-screen, or, like in Groundhog Day, in a blazing car. But violent scenes like biting someone's freakin' ear off is not comedy! I'm not sure what to call it, but its a far cry from Ace Ventura singing the Slinky song while it slinks down the Tibetan monastery, coming one stair short of its goal.

Violence and comedy are two drinks I don't tend to mix - its not a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup, you know it? *shrugs*

But this is exactly what I'm saying; you are saying there are rules to comedy. I say there are no rules, it just involves what you think is funny. Within the context of the story and characters, the ear biting is funny in a dark and disturbing way; it is so over the top, but if fits with the barely controlled insanity of Walter's character.

If you don't think Big Lebowski is funny, there's no problem with that; it just doesn't appeal to you. I don't think movies like Meet the Parents are funny because they make me so uncomfortable, but I understand why other people would find them funny. But I think putting down rules for what makes or breaks a comedy is just going to make you frustrated, because every time you see a rule being broken, that movie might be ruined for you.

You must not be a fan of Undead, Slither, and Shaun of the Dead, huh?

My problem with comedy is that it's too subjective. There should be a laugh track in movies so I know what's funny.

If you didn't realize Fargo was a comedy, you weren't paying attention.

Edit: Don't believe me? Check out #93 on AFI 100 Years, 100 Laughs: http://www.afi.com/tvevents/100years/laughs.aspx