“The story has yet to be told.”
Tom Cruise made his acting debut in 1981, playing Billy in Endless Love, a romantic drama headlined by Brooke Shields. I’m not entirely sure that the up and coming actor then would acknowledge the global superstar now, but one can’t deny that all roads have lead to Digger, the most absurd and ambitious risk the famed icon has ever taken on.
Unapologetically uncanny and undeniably bizarre, Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s Digger is an acquired taste. Part irony misfire, part satire, the film works tirelessly to paint a bold, beautiful picture. That picture, an evolving trope of painful self reflection, is a film that is both repulsive and intoxicating. And though it hits particular points with micro precision, I’m still not entirely sure I enjoyed it.
Cruse stars as Digger Rockwell, a Texas oil tycoon who has effectively furthered the family brand, working the Earth’s resources to his own advantage as he utilizes legal loopholes, straddling the proverbial great line in an attempt to maximize earnings before operations become an issue.
Digger is an asshole. Regardless of his love for Maggie, his feline friend, Rockwell feeds on greed. His introduction, a sluggish and somewhat abrasive act, immediately sets the stage as Iñárritu wastes no time distinguishing his personality and his hunger for success.
But not all is what you originally see.
Though Digger never revamps his first impression image, Digger, on the large scale, is not the film you truly expect. A satirical account of both the current world and Earth’s potential future, Iñárritu diligently works to craft a universe that is truly false, but not futuristically outlandish. The result is a haunting world that is both ridiculous and painfully familiar.
And one that I can’t tell you much about.
Filled with twists and turns that give the satirical drama its edge, Digger has a point to make. But amidst all of the abrurdity, there are moments that become lost in translation.
Credit Cruise and his supporting cast. Their performance help to ground the often insane and uncomfortable narrative, but they ultimately struggle to overcome the confusion and bewilderment that encapsulates the audience as they attempt to position the uneven pieces into place.
But even within the seemingly intentional chaos, Iñárritu finds an even thread of which to build a narrative.
Slightly out of focus, our accredited director works to recreate the magic of his previous work. And though Digger is not Babel. Or The Revenant. Or 21 Grams. The film becomes something more.
I refuse to say “something different.” I’m not convinced that Digger is a good film. But I also cannot deny my affection for it. Cruise, in top form, embodies a man who, in a moment of panic, embarks on a frantic mission to claim his spot amidst the throne of humanity’s most elite as he tirelessly works to control a catastrophic event that he single handedly caused.
The irony is palapable. The screenwriting near pristine. And though the power of its individual parts does not craft the super film the story deserves, it’s hard to root against such a unique and clever original story. Especially at a time when Hollywood is so desperate for innovated story angles.
Regardless, Digger is good. Great? Not really. But the insanity that unfolds on screen is wroth the price of admission. Even if the second and third act succumb to tropes and you begin to rely on the potential of the story rather than the actual execution.
