by Josh Sewell
Digger
(Rated R for pervasive language. Opens in theaters on October 2.)
(Rated R for pervasive language. Opens in theaters on October 2.)
To call Alejandro Iñárritu a divisive filmmaker would be an understatement. Yes, he won two back-to-back Oscars for Best Director (for Birdman and The Revenant). But he’s also an arrogant blowhard who makes thuddingly obvious, insufferable films and believes they’re art of the highest caliber. You can probably deduce that I’m not a big fan.
Okay, I’m being a little harsh. I thought Birdman was solid and at least The Revenant is gorgeous to look at. The story on the other hand? It might’ve finally landed Leonardo DiCaprio his long-awaited Best Actor statue, but I don’t think I was supposed to be rooting for Tom Hardy’s character the whole time. Most of his filmography is the epitome of shallowness disguised as sophistication.
Iñárritu’s latest, the self-proclaimed satire Digger, doesn’t do much to change that perception. I hoped collaborating with superstar Tom Cruise (finally branching out again after a decade of Mission: Impossible and Top Gun flicks) would elevate their strengths and diminish each other’s weaknesses – an “iron sharpens iron” kind of thing. Unfortunately, the reverse happened: the combination of massive egos turned the disappointing film into a pretentious, mega-budget misfire.
To be fair, even though Digger doesn’t work at all, I can’t say it’s boring. The basic premise revolves around oil tycoon Digger Rockwell (Cruise), who has utilized his family’s massive fortune to become one of the most powerful men on the planet. He’s even a right-hand man to the president (John Goodman) and a host of other world leaders.
However, when his company’s irresponsible drilling jump starts the apocalypse, Digger must try to save his reputation and the planet simultaneously. There’s more to the plot, but Warner Brothers has asked critics not to reveal it. I don’t think discussing it counts as a spoiler – especially since the development happens midway through the first act – but I’ll respect the studio’s request.
However, I will say Digger feels a lot like Iñárritu and Cruise saw Wes Anderson’s masterful Asteroid City and thought they could do better. You’ll be shocked to learn they were wrong. It turns out you need a sense of humor to make a comedy. Furthermore, I’m not sure why they attempted to emulate the filmmaker’s twee aesthetic when it’s clear they don’t understand the reasons he uses it to tell his stories in the first place.
That’s not to suggest Cruise doesn’t entertain with his bonkers, prosthetics-laden performance. The dude always commits, even if the finished product turns out to be a mess. (For another example, try to make it through his bizarre 2017 remake of The Mummy.) Riz Ahmed is also fantastic as a beleaguered climate scientist forced to do Digger’s bidding.
However, the rest of the impressive cast (including Goodman, Sandra Hüller, Michael Stuhlbarg and Jesse Plemons) are completely squandered in one-note roles that do them no favors. That’s because the screenplay, credited to four(!) writers – Iñárritu, Alexander Dinelaris, Nicolás Giacobone and Sabina Berman – never figures out what tone the film should go for.
The satire isn’t funny or smart, and when Digger tries to play it more realistic, the characters involved in those segments are barely developed at all. Who are these people? If Iñárritu and the muddled script doesn’t care about them, why should the audience?
The few bits that do work, namely the performances from Cruise and Ahmed; Emmanuel Lubezki’s beautiful cinematography; and the production design from Dennis Gassner and Richard Johnson (which admittedly imitates the work of frequent Anderson collaborator Adam Stockhausen) gets drowned out by the overwhelming amount of stuff that doesn’t.
In that respect, the film is very much in the vein of Don’t Look Up, Adam McKay’s 2021 political “comedy” that consists of overqualified actors screaming Twitter talking points at each other for almost two-and-a-half hours and mistaking it for cleverness. “Digger” isn’t that awful (at least it didn’t make my blood pressure skyrocket), but the two misfires are certainly worth comparing.
They both feel like being stuck in an elevator with an overenthusiastic college freshman who just discovered climate change and now has very important thoughts on the matter.
Grade: D+
Book Spotlight
Hollywood, Ending by John Green
(Now available.)
John Green, beloved author of The Fault in Our Stars and Everything is Tuberculosis, returns with his first fictional work in nearly a decade. The story centers on rising talents Kai Laramie and Juniper Castillo, who are cast in the buzzed-about biopic Andy Warhol Never Gets Old. They’re on the verge of breaking out, and maybe even falling in love. Soon, the movie is blowing up, and so are their lives – in exciting, yet terrifying, ways.
Green combines a behind-the-scenes Hollywood love story with an examination of the insatiable attention economy. Through dual points of view, his novel juxtaposes the study of Warhol’s life at the dawn of celebrity culture with the struggles of two young people figuring out who they are.
Okay, I’m being a little harsh. I thought Birdman was solid and at least The Revenant is gorgeous to look at. The story on the other hand? It might’ve finally landed Leonardo DiCaprio his long-awaited Best Actor statue, but I don’t think I was supposed to be rooting for Tom Hardy’s character the whole time. Most of his filmography is the epitome of shallowness disguised as sophistication.
Iñárritu’s latest, the self-proclaimed satire Digger, doesn’t do much to change that perception. I hoped collaborating with superstar Tom Cruise (finally branching out again after a decade of Mission: Impossible and Top Gun flicks) would elevate their strengths and diminish each other’s weaknesses – an “iron sharpens iron” kind of thing. Unfortunately, the reverse happened: the combination of massive egos turned the disappointing film into a pretentious, mega-budget misfire.
To be fair, even though Digger doesn’t work at all, I can’t say it’s boring. The basic premise revolves around oil tycoon Digger Rockwell (Cruise), who has utilized his family’s massive fortune to become one of the most powerful men on the planet. He’s even a right-hand man to the president (John Goodman) and a host of other world leaders.
However, when his company’s irresponsible drilling jump starts the apocalypse, Digger must try to save his reputation and the planet simultaneously. There’s more to the plot, but Warner Brothers has asked critics not to reveal it. I don’t think discussing it counts as a spoiler – especially since the development happens midway through the first act – but I’ll respect the studio’s request.
However, I will say Digger feels a lot like Iñárritu and Cruise saw Wes Anderson’s masterful Asteroid City and thought they could do better. You’ll be shocked to learn they were wrong. It turns out you need a sense of humor to make a comedy. Furthermore, I’m not sure why they attempted to emulate the filmmaker’s twee aesthetic when it’s clear they don’t understand the reasons he uses it to tell his stories in the first place.
That’s not to suggest Cruise doesn’t entertain with his bonkers, prosthetics-laden performance. The dude always commits, even if the finished product turns out to be a mess. (For another example, try to make it through his bizarre 2017 remake of The Mummy.) Riz Ahmed is also fantastic as a beleaguered climate scientist forced to do Digger’s bidding.
However, the rest of the impressive cast (including Goodman, Sandra Hüller, Michael Stuhlbarg and Jesse Plemons) are completely squandered in one-note roles that do them no favors. That’s because the screenplay, credited to four(!) writers – Iñárritu, Alexander Dinelaris, Nicolás Giacobone and Sabina Berman – never figures out what tone the film should go for.
The satire isn’t funny or smart, and when Digger tries to play it more realistic, the characters involved in those segments are barely developed at all. Who are these people? If Iñárritu and the muddled script doesn’t care about them, why should the audience?
The few bits that do work, namely the performances from Cruise and Ahmed; Emmanuel Lubezki’s beautiful cinematography; and the production design from Dennis Gassner and Richard Johnson (which admittedly imitates the work of frequent Anderson collaborator Adam Stockhausen) gets drowned out by the overwhelming amount of stuff that doesn’t.
In that respect, the film is very much in the vein of Don’t Look Up, Adam McKay’s 2021 political “comedy” that consists of overqualified actors screaming Twitter talking points at each other for almost two-and-a-half hours and mistaking it for cleverness. “Digger” isn’t that awful (at least it didn’t make my blood pressure skyrocket), but the two misfires are certainly worth comparing.
They both feel like being stuck in an elevator with an overenthusiastic college freshman who just discovered climate change and now has very important thoughts on the matter.
Grade: D+
Book Spotlight
(Now available.)
John Green, beloved author of The Fault in Our Stars and Everything is Tuberculosis, returns with his first fictional work in nearly a decade. The story centers on rising talents Kai Laramie and Juniper Castillo, who are cast in the buzzed-about biopic Andy Warhol Never Gets Old. They’re on the verge of breaking out, and maybe even falling in love. Soon, the movie is blowing up, and so are their lives – in exciting, yet terrifying, ways.
Green combines a behind-the-scenes Hollywood love story with an examination of the insatiable attention economy. Through dual points of view, his novel juxtaposes the study of Warhol’s life at the dawn of celebrity culture with the struggles of two young people figuring out who they are.
Reach out to Josh Sewell at joshsewell81@gmail.com or on BlueSky @joshsewell.bsky.social
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