Overview

In 1991,[9][10] slacker and avid bowler Jeffrey "The Dude" Lebowski is attacked in his Los Angeles home by two enforcers for porn kingpin Jackie Treehorn, to whom a different Jeffrey Lebowski's wife owes money. One enforcer urinates on the Dude's rug before the two realize they have the wrong man and leave.

Consulting his bowling partners, Vietnam veteran Walter Sobchak and Donny Kerabatsos, the Dude visits wealthy philanthropist Jeffrey Lebowski ("the big Lebowski"), requesting compensation for the rug. Lebowski refuses but the Dude tricks his assistant Brandt into letting him take a similar rug from the mansion. Outside, he meets Bunny, Lebowski's trophy wife and her German nihilist friend Uli. Soon afterwards, Bunny is apparently kidnapped and Lebowski hires The Dude to deliver a ransom. That night, another group of thugs ambushes the Dude, taking his replacement rug on behalf of Lebowski's daughter Maude, who has a sentimental attachment to it.

Convinced the kidnap was a ruse by Bunny, Walter fakes the ransom drop. He and the Dude return to the bowling alley, leaving the briefcase of money in the car trunk. While bowling, their car is stolen. The Dude is confronted by Lebowski, who has an envelope from the kidnappers containing a severed toe, supposedly Bunny's. Maude asks the Dude to help recover the money, which her father illegally withdrew from the family's charity foundation.

The police recover the Dude's car. The briefcase is missing but the Dude finds a clue: a sheet of homework signed by a teenager named Larry Sellers. The Dude and Walter visit Larry but get no information from him. Walter assumes a sports car in front of Larry's house was purchased with the ransom and smashes it. The car actually belongs to a neighbor, who smashes the Dude's car in return.

Jackie Treehorn's thugs abduct the Dude and bring him to the porn kingpin, who demands to know where Bunny is and what happened to his money. The Dude says Bunny faked her kidnapping and Larry has the money then passes out from a spiked drink Treehorn gave him. He is arrested while wandering deliriously in Malibu and evicted by the police chief. On his way home Bunny (whose toes are intact) drives by, unnoticed by the Dude.

Maude is waiting for the Dude at his home and has sex with him, wishing to become pregnant by a father with whom she will not have to interact. She tells the Dude that her father has no money of his own, his wealth came from her late mother.

The Dude and Walter confront Lebowski and find Bunny has returned, having gone out of town without telling anyone.