8. The Big Lebowski (1998) – Donny Doesn’t Exist
Another hugely popular fan theory that stems from the work of an acclaimed director – or, in this case, directors – is that Donny doesn’t really exist in The Big Lebowski.
Jeff Bridges’ Jeffrey “The Dude” Lebowski is the iconic cinematic slacker hero who finds himself the victim of a case of mistaken identity that ends in kidnap, vandalism, and embezzlement. Along with his friends, Walter (John Goodman) and Donny (Steve Buscemi), the Dude attempts to resolve the kidnapping and keep the ransom money for himself. However, the long-standing theory posits that Donny was actually dead all along, and that he’s merely a figment of Walter’s imagination.
The theory actually holds a considerable amount of weight, as it’s only really Walter that can be seen interacting with Donny (other than one or two brief exchanges with the Dude). While the theory almost entirely holds up when watching The Big Lebowski, the Coen brothers themselves actually dismissed its plausibility in an interview with The Huffington Post in 2016.
Still, even the Coen brothers’ reasoning behind why Donny was real can be explained away with two small caveats. The first is that Donny was a war buddy of Walter’s who died in Vietnam, and the second is that Donny’s ashes at the end of the movie were the character’s real remains, and that every one of his “physical” appearances were a figment of Walter’s imagination brought on by PTSD.
As Donny actually plays a relatively minor role in the film, it hardly matters, but it’s an interesting theory nonetheless.