True Grit (2010)

Based on the Charles Portis novel (not the John Wayne film), the Coen Brothers obey Western genre constructs while deftly adding their own sense of dark irony and violence. Jeff Bridges steals many scenes, but Hailee Steinfeld, 14, is the heart of the story.

d: Ethan Coen and Joel Coen | imdb.com | trailer | “Charlie Rose”
You’re not going. | I’m a Texas Ranger. | Your eye. | No affidavit.

Crazy Heart (2009)

As tired, drunk country singer Bad Blake, Jeff Bridges performs his songs (written by T-Bone Burnett) like he has been singing them his whole life. He is great, but the movie is just good. Robert Duvall shows up — a nod to his country singer in “Tender Mercies.”

d: Scott Cooper | imdb.com | trailer | Charlie Rose
No tab. | Keep after it. | “I Don’t Know” | “The Weary Kind”

The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009)

George Clooney, Jeff Bridges (wonderful as another version of the Dude), Kevin Spacey and Stephen Lang are members of the New Earth Army, an experimental Army program centered on parapsychology in an enjoyable war comedy with little payoff.

d: Grant Heslov | imdb.com | trailer | the book | the documentary

The Big Lebowski (1998)

Jeff Bridges casually plays the Dude, a man for whom casualness is a way of life — Creedence, White Russians and bowling with his buddies. Meanwhile, the Coen Brothers construct one hell of a ride — mistaken identity, kidnapping and Technicolor blackouts.

d: Coen Brothers | imdb.com | trailer | They peed on your rug.
Blow on my toes. | Jesus | The Bag Man | Shomer Shabbos