"Digger" is an imposition – and that's a good thing
Alejandro González Iñárritu's new film is a biting satire that gets a lot right. Tom Cruise gives his best lead performance in a long time. Unfortunately, 'Digger' cannot compete with reality.
No worries: This film review is spoiler-free. I won't reveal anything more than what is already known and visible in the trailers. «Digger» hits theaters on October 1st.
«What the hell did I just watch?!», I asked myself after watching the first «Digger» trailer. In a good way, mind you – the kind that makes you curious. Another trailer reinforced this impression. And now, having seen the film, I am happy to repeat myself with emphasis: «What the hell did I just watch?!»
What it's about
Digger Rockwell (Tom Cruise) is an eccentric billionaire oil tycoon. But Digger has messed up: he has triggered a catastrophe that threatens to destroy everything. And before it's too late, he wants to prove that he is the savior of humanity. That is roughly the official synopsis from Warner Bros. – I'll leave it at that. Any word about the plot of «Digger» could be one too many. And after all, I don't want to break my spoiler promise.
So: If you want to know more about the film, go watch it. You won't regret it. Hopefully.
Source: Warner Bros. Entertainment
An unmistakable Iñárritu
In 2015, Alejandro González Iñárritu («Amores Perros», «Babel») won the Oscar for Best Director with «Birdman». The following year, he repeated this success with «The Revenant», becoming the third director in film history to win this Oscar twice in a row. Things then went quiet for the Mexican director. After «Bardo» (2022), he even left it open whether he would ever direct another film. And now he returns with a bang called «Digger». Fortunately!
Long takes without cuts, the visual language and color, bizarre interludes, and a nested narrative style – this film bears Iñárritu's unmistakable signature. His long-time cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki once again pulls us right into the action with his images. Where there is something to show, he still holds the shot for a few seconds longer and never falls into haste. It feels immersive, at times even hypnotic. The soundtrack by Cosmo Sheldrake contributes its part.
Source: Warner Bros. Entertainment
An ensemble in top form
«Digger» stands or falls with the acting. Here, Iñárritu can rely on an exquisite ensemble. As the titular Digger Rockwell, Tom Cruise naturally leaves his mark on the film. He not only looks a bit like his Les Grossman in «Tropic Thunder»; he also gets to let loose in a similar way. His Digger commands, rages, placates, and talks his way into trouble – yet never quite goes deep emotionally. It is Cruise's best acting performance in years, no question. But will it finally be enough for the long-awaited acting Oscar after several nominations (aside from his honorary Oscar for lifetime achievement in 2025)?
The rest of the cast also shines. Above all Riz Ahmed («Sound of Metal»), who engages in some intense and rousing verbal duels with Cruise. Sandra Hüller, John Goodman, Sophie Wilde, and Jesse Plemons may have smaller roles, but they all get their moments to shine all the more. Watching this ensemble is a blast from start to finish. It harmonizes wonderfully – even if there isn't much harmony to be seen in the film.
Source: Warner Bros. Entertainment
Satire that's late to the party
Iñárritu wrote the screenplay together with Sabina Berman, Alexander Dinelaris, and Nicolás Giacobone. He has worked with the latter before on «Birdman», among others. That is exactly the film I keep thinking about during «Digger». Polished dialogue, verbal sparring, surreal moments, the humor, and the drama – in all these things, the two films are sometimes very similar. But while «Birdman» is enormously self-referential on various levels and can best be read as a symbol for the decline of Hollywood cinema, Iñárritu now goes much further.
«Digger» is aimed at all of us; it holds a mirror up to society without mercy. In its best moments, the film encourages reflection on one's own actions. In its worse moments, I find the raised finger a bit too preachy. But perhaps some people need exactly that. In general, I'm not entirely sure how much Iñárritu trusts his audience and how much he expects of them. Because at some point, the film starts to explain itself, which in my eyes is unnecessary. A pity, less would definitely have been more here.
Source: Warner Bros. Entertainment
But the biggest problem with «Digger» is a different one – one it shares with the later seasons of «The Boys»: It arrives a few years too late. With its satirical, absurdly exaggerated social criticism, the film wants to hurt and wake people up, but reality has long since overtaken it on the right. To put it bluntly: The world is currently so absurd and cynical that it can hardly be caricatured anymore. And so, the madness of «Digger» fizzles out to a considerable extent. Because it cannot compete with the madness of reality. That should give us pause for thought and still makes the film worth seeing. As the saying goes: Better late than never. Or to put it in the words of Immanuel Kant:
«It is never too late to become reasonable and wise; but it is always harder, if the insight comes late, to put it into action.»
In a nutshell
Satire with a sledgehammer, not with a wink
I'm a full-blooded dad and husband, part-time nerd and chicken farmer, cat tamer and animal lover. I would like to know everything and yet I know nothing. I know even less, but I learn something new every day. What I am good at is dealing with words, spoken and written. And I get to prove that here.
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