Dude: Why Lebowski Is Still Big

A decade after its disappointing box-office release, The Big Lebowski endures as a cult classic, inspiring academic papers, annual festivals, and hot new comics like Seth Rogen. To find out why, Rolling Stone tracked down the cast and a few hardcore fans who say Lebowski is more a movement than a film—Jeff Bridges' "Dude" represents a Zen-like way of life.  

A fortysomething slacker content to drink, get stoned, and bowl, "The Dude" gets swept up in absurd situations beyond his control. His yen for personal freedom seems to strike a chord in today's fast-paced technological society. "The Dude abides," says castmate Philip Seymour Hoffman. "I think that's something people really yearn for, to be able to live their life like that."