Review: Digger
Official Synopsis: The most powerful man in the world, Digger (Tom Cruise) embarks on a frantic mission to prove he is humanity's savior before the disaster he's unleashed destroys everything.
If you haven't watched this yourself, you've probably seen the headlines about how divisive this is. And rightfully so. This movie is not what it's being marketed to be. And while I'm not going to do a spoiler review, I am going to add an optional spoiler of the swerves this movie takes because it's one of those rare occasions where I think I would've had a slightly better time if I had known.
Highlight here for spoiler ---> About 30 minutes into the film, it is revealed that we are not watching these events take place in real time, but rather we are watching actors put on a play about those events. Then later, with about 15 mins of the film left. We are told that the benefactor of said play is Digger's nephew (played by Jesse Plemons) and it is taking place years after the catastrophic events they are trying to avoid take place) <---- end spoiler
At this point, everyone is very well aware of the climate crisis we are in and Director Alejandro G. Iñárritu spends the majority of this film having his actors yell at us about it. I put the blame completely on him. I didn't think Sandra Hüller or John Goodman were capable of giving bad performances, but here they, along with everyone else is acting in CALL CAPS for the entire runtime. About 20-30 mins into the movie, we learn something that somewhat excuses the theatrics, but don't expect that piece of information to be handled well moving forward. Only Riz Ahmed gets to rise above what he is given, and that's because his character is meant to be the voice of reason. He's the only one here that is believable as a person.
Tom Cruise, I'll give him credit, is doing something different than he has been doing for the past 20 years, but his character is so frustrating. He has a side story involving his daughter that serves no narrative purpose and in a way kind of undermines the "billionaire are bad" narrative the film is pushing. You see the opportunities his character is given, and a better writer would've found a way to do that with more than just his character. And because it's Tom Cruise, a man who is still very beloved in Hollywood despite being a high ranking member of a very destructive cult, you have to wonder how much of his influence played into some of these choices.
On top of the messy script, it is painfully unfunny at times. I am begging people to stop making anal cancer a joke. Cancer isn't funny. Ever. And they go so hard on anal cancer jokes in this film. It fails as a satire. It fails as a commentary about satire. It fails on everything except it's production design, sound design, and Riz Ahmed's performance.
And look, I appreciate when filmmakers take big swings like this. I'd rather someone take the chance and fail then never take the chance at all. I still gave this my theater money. I want to support original stories, but damn. What a let down.
Grade: C-
It's interesting when someone goes somewhere new, and even when it fails, it's an interesting experiment. Still, I always wan them to work.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I have to say that based on the trailer, I didn't feel any pull to going to see this one.
Yeah, I wish this would’ve worked for me. I think with a better director it probably could have. Not sure AGI was the one for this.
DeleteI am going to wait for this on streaming as I heard it is a mess that wants to be this but also wants to be that. That's not going to work for me homes. Plus, I don't like cancer jokes either.
ReplyDeleteHaving watched Our Time recently, if you were to ask me on my ranking on the best Mexican filmmakers working today. Guillermo del Toro is #1 obviously with Alfonso Cuaron at #2. There was always a tie between Inarritu and Carlos Reygadas before I watched Our Time and now, I would put Reygadas at #3. Yes, his films are not accessible to a wide audience as they can be seen as pretentious, self-indulgent, and SLOW-AS-FUCK but I am always enraptured by his approach to storytelling as he is creating something that is not mainstream cinema. For that, I feel like he's a more consistent filmmaker than Inarritu as the one film of his that I have seen that I struggled with was Biutiful.
I’d probably go with that order too, though I’m not very well versed with Mexican filmmakers. I feel like I only know “the big 3” and to me del Toro is far above both Cuaron and Inarritu.
DeleteYeah, the preachiness is too much! I think Riz Ahmed and Jesse Plemons are the only ones not screaming at us about climate change. It's too bad, as we need more films with original stories, but I think the way the message is delivered rubs people the wrong way. The production design is top-notch, though, though with this flop, I wonder if they'd get any nomination.
ReplyDeleteI hope the Production Team can at least be recognized because they do deserve it the most.
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