Ever notice that every blockbuster movie has the same fundamental pieces? A hero, a journey, some conflicts to muck it all up, a reward, and the hero returning home and everybody applauding his or her swag? Yeah, scholar Joseph Campbell noticed first—in 1949. He wrote The Hero with a Thousand Faces, in which he outlined the 17 stages of a mythological hero's journey.

About half a century later, Christopher Vogler condensed those stages down to 12 in an attempt to show Hollywood how every story ever written should—and, uh, does—follow Campbell's pattern. We're working with those 12 stages, so take a look. (P.S. Want more? We have an entire Online Course devoted to the hero's journey.)

Ordinary World

The Dude's world is established by the narrating cowboy, whose scraggly voice we hear over shots of L.A. A tumbleweed rolls down Hollywood Boulevard, and we find The Dude in a grocery store, drinking from a carton of Half & Half. This, we understand, is The Dude's life. It's an extremely, extremely chill one.

Call to Adventure

The Dude returns to his apartment to find that someone is already there: two muscular guys who claim he owes Jackie Treehorn money. One of them pees on The Dude's rug. They realize they've got the wrong guy, and they leave. The Dude is fairly pissed (no pun intended) about his rug.

Refusal of the Call

The Dude does nothing about the rug-peers.

Meeting the Mentor

At the bowling alley, The Dude bemoans the state of his rug to Walter, who tells The Dude to stick up for himself. He urges The Dude to confront the other Jeff Lebowski about the incident. The Dude agrees.

Crossing the Threshold

The Dude goes to the Lebowski mansion, where the Big Lebowski isn't exactly sympathetic to The Dude's cause. The Dude steals one of the Big Lebowski's rugs.

Tests, Allies, Enemies

The Big Lebowski recruits The Dude to recover his kidnapped wife. The Dude agrees, in large part because the Big Lebowski wants to pay him $20,000. But the briefcase hand-off goes south, in large part because of Walter's incompetence. This launches a series of events that tests The Dude's strength, intelligence, and patience.

Approach to the Inmost Cave

As the plot thickens, The Dude finds him getting closer and closer to solving the mystery of Bunny Lebowski's disappearance and the disappearance of the Big Lebowski's money. Thinking he knows who stole the money, he and Walter pay an unfriendly visit to Larry Sellers. But Larry Sellers is a dead end.

Ordeal

In the strangest and riskiest turn of events in the film, The Dude is kidnapped and drugged by Jackie Treehorn. Despite his delirium, The Dude manages to escape from Jackie Treehorn's estate. He is then picked up and beaten up by the Malibu sheriff.

Reward (Seizing the Sword)

As The Dude is ejected from a taxi in the middle of Malibu, Bunny Lebowski speeds past him in her car, all 10 toes intact. At this point, we know that Bunny is OK, and that The Dude and Walter were right about the kidnapping being a sham. Which means, of course, that The Dude isn't guilty and the egg is on the Big Lebowski's face.

The Road Back

The Dude returns home, where Maude Lebowski tells him that her father is broke. This allows The Dude to put together the final pieces of the puzzle. He and Walter take a trip over to the Lebowski mansion.

Resurrection

The Dude tells off the Big Lebowski, and he and Walter successfully vanquish the German nihilists.

Return With the Elixir

The Dude returns to his world of bowling and smoking with a new lease on life: he's happier and more Dude-like than ever. And according to the cowboy, there's a little Lebowski on the way.