Since its release, "The Big Lebowski" has become a classic. This study sets the movie into the context of 1990s Hollywood cinema, anatomised for its relationship with the classics which it satirises, and discussed in terms of its key theme: the hopeless flailing of ridiculously unmanly men in the world of put-on identities that is Los Angeles.

In this study, "The Big Lebowski" is set into the context of 1990s Hollywood cinema, anatomised for its witty relationship with the classics which it satirises, and discussed in terms of its key theme: the hopeless flailing of ridiculously unmanly men in the world of discombobulated, mixed-up, or put-on identities that is Los Angeles.