When "The Dude" Lebowski is mistaken for a millionaire Lebowski, two thugs urinate on his rug to coerce him into paying a debt he knows nothing about. While attempting to gain recompense for the ruined rug from his wealthy counterpart, he accepts a one-time job with high pay-off. He enlists the help of his bowling buddy, Walter, a gun-toting Jewish-convert with anger issues. Deception leads to more trouble, and it soon seems that everyone from porn empire tycoons to nihilists want something from The Dude.
Jesse and Chester, two bumbling stoners, wake up one morning from a night of partying and cannot remember where they parked their car. They encounter a variety of people while looking for it, including their angry girlfriends, an angry street gang, a transexual stripper, a cult of alien seeking fanatics, and aliens in human form looking for a mystical device that could save or destroy the world.