The Big Lebowski is a 1998 American comey film written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. The film follows a few days in the life of Jeffrey "The Dude" Lebowski (Jeff Bridges), a burned-out, unemployed Californian slacker, after he is mistaken for a millionaire with the same name. While The Big Lebowski is not directly based on Raymond Chandler's novel The Big Sleep, Joel Coen has said that "[we] wanted to do a Chandler kind of story – how it moves episodically, and deals with the characters trying to unravel a mystery. As well as having a hopelessly complex plot that's ultimately unimportant."