10 Great Movie Performances (That Got Better The Second Time You Watched)

7. Jeff Bridges - The Big Lebowski

The Dude is one of those characters - like The Joker, Tyler Durden and Ferris Bueller - who transcends the limits of their own initial material. He's endlessly quotable, has inspired a philosophical movement and remains Jeff Bridges' most cherished role, despite how many brilliant performances he's offered before and since.

The best thing about his performance is not merely that he's an aspirational slacker, or that his deliciously no-f*cks attitude to pretty much everything (or even his copious drug use, which makes him a prophet for stoner culture), it's that there appears to be so little to the performance. He appears to float through the movie as a passenger in a world far weirder and more manic than he has any time for.

But watching it a second time without the burden of attention to the story, Bridges' genius shines through far more. His observations in that performance are glorious, particularly if you're familiar with anyone so deeply embedded in stoner/slacker culture.