There are certain movies that are about as close to sainthood as you can get. The Coen Bros’ The Big Lebowksi is most definitely one of them. Their infinitely quotable, super-cool 1998 crime comedy about Jeff Bridges’ “The Dude” is the very definition of a cult classic, as it was a box office flop and only received mixed reviews upon release, but as time went on, more and more fans fell in love with it to the point where it’s becaome one of the most beloved entries on the Coens’ acclaimed filmography. Hell, the the US Library of Congress even added The Big Lebowski to the National Film Registry of films, deeming it to be of “cultural, historical, or aesthetic significance”.
Because nobody wants the pressure of living up to that – and because the Coens have never done any – there has never been a sequel, but John Turturro, who starred in the movie as the epically flamboyant bowler Jesus Quintana, has been talking about a possible spinoff for quite some time. Nothing ever came from said talk though. Or at least that’s what we thought.
Turturro had recently been working on Going Places, which is supposed to a remake of over-the-top 1974 French sex comedy Les Valseuses. He would star, write and direct this romp which also stars Bobby Cannavale, Audrey Tatou and Susan Sarandon. However, it’s now been revealed that Turturro was actually just using that movie as a basis and that this is instead a spinoff to The Big Lebowski!
Going Places will see Turturro reprise his role as Jesus, in a truly messed up plot about two small-time crooks (Turturro’s Jesus and Cannavale’s Petey) who inadvertently get a mousy woman (Tatou) involved in their criminal shenanigans, and decide to go head to head in a competition to see who can get the boring lady to orgasm first. Yes, you read that correctly. Sarandon is also along for the ride (not like that, you pervs!) as a seasoned crook recently released from prison after a long stint behind bars.
Sarandon has now also given us the first pic from the film, when she posted this on-set snap on her Instagram, showing Turturro back in character again as the machismo-loaded Jesus.
Yes, it’s not the biggest reveal, but I’m actually really stoked for this movie, despit the fact that the Coens are not be involved in this project at all. Roger Ebert once described the original Les Valseuses as having “occasional charm,” “several amusing moments” and “touching scenes”. He also said though that it was “the most misogynistic movie I can remember; its hatred of women is palpable and embarrassing”. Ouch. That being said though, if the plot can be sufficiently tweaked to avoid similar pitfalls, the absurd premise is such a good fit for Turturro’s ridiculously fired up Jesus that this could work quite well.
There’s no distributor in place yet for Going Places and thus no release date. But irrespective of whenever it does get scheduled for, it looks like we got a date Wednesday, baby!
Last Updated: August 24, 2016
