--- title: The Big Lebowski: Read TIME's Original Review from 1998 description: The movie was released on Mar. 6, 1998 canonical: https://time.com/3928367/lebowski-fest-review/ author: Lily Rothman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-10T18:00:56.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:05:09.310Z article:section: History og:title: Read TIME's Original Review of The Big Lebowski og:description: In honor of Lebowski Fest og:url: https://time.com/3928367/lebowski-fest-review/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt42049a9bb6e71793/69885571f887dc1713e9104b/lebowski.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Movie Poster For 'The Big Lebowski' og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Read TIME's Original Review of The Big Lebowski twitter:description: In honor of Lebowski Fest twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt42049a9bb6e71793/69885571f887dc1713e9104b/lebowski.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Read TIME's Original Review of _The Big Lebowski_ ## Video: The 10 Greatest Movies of the Millennium (Thus Far) [Watch (HLS stream): The 10 Greatest Movies of the Millennium (Thus Far)](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/S3M25t5U.m3u8) (4:16)  _Published 2012-05-17. TIME movie critic, Richard Corliss lists his top films of the millennium (Thus Far). For the full, list go to time.com/entertainment_  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Jul 10, 2015 6:00 PM UTC  Poster for the movie 'The Big Lebowski,' 1998. Poster for the movie 'The Big Lebowski,' 1998.Buyenlarge / Getty Images  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Jul 10, 2015 6:00 PM UTC Starting Friday, Louisville, Ky., will be host to the 14th annual [Lebowski Fest](https://lebowskifest.com/), a super relaxed celebration of _The Big Lebowski_, the 1998 Coen Brothers classic. The fest’s longevity is evidence that the movie inspires devotion both extreme and enduring. But, when it was first released, the reaction was somewhat more subdued. TIME’s critic Richard Schickel found that while _The Big Lebowski_ had its high points, it was far from the filmmakers’ best work: --- > “” --- **_Read the full review, here in the TIME Vault:_** [A Bit Off Their Game](http://time.com/vault/issue/1998-03-02/page/81/) The Big Lebowski: Read TIME's Original Review from 1998 ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3928367/lebowski-fest-review/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3928367/lebowski-fest-review/"},"headline":"Read TIME's Original Review of The Big Lebowski","datePublished":"2015-07-10T18:00:56.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T08:05:09.310Z","description":"In honor of Lebowski Fest","url":"https://time.com/3928367/lebowski-fest-review/","keywords":["movies"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt42049a9bb6e71793/69885571f887dc1713e9104b/lebowski.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lily Rothman","jobTitle":"Rothman is managing editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt42049a9bb6e71793/69885571f887dc1713e9104b/lebowski.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Movie Poster For 'The Big Lebowski'","caption":"Movie Poster For 'The Big Lebowski'","creditText":"Buyenlarge / Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3928367/lebowski-fest-review/","name":"Read TIME's Original Review of The Big Lebowski"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The 10 Greatest Movies of the Millennium (Thus Far)","description":"TIME movie critic, Richard Corliss lists his top films of the millennium (Thus Far). 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