Digger: Dug its own grave.

Riot’s Reviews: Digger

For all the years of online talk surrounding Leonardo DiCaprio’s well-deserved first Oscar, it’s kind of wild to think this whole time an actor of similar caliber like Tom Cruise has been waiting in the same shadow. Sure, he received an honorary Oscar last year and three other nominations in his career, but when you walk through his filmography, it’s kind of baffling to think he hasn’t won one outright yet. Especially after putting out Top Gun: Maverick, something that arguably saved the film and theater industry (I do find this argument a little hyperbolic, but I’m hesitant to outright say it’s not true). In the months leading up to the release of Alejandro Inarritu’s,  Digger, it very much seemed like the gauntlet was being laid to end Cruise’s Oscar win drought. Previews didn’t give audiences a whole lot to go by, but an air of controversy hung over the project and after less than two weeks, it’s on track to be a 250 million dollar box office bomb. Will it get Tom his Oscar? More than probable. But will the general audience ever accept this project? I’d say “outlook not so good.”

Let’s start off with the positives today, because I really do want to emphasize that Tom Cruise in his role as Digger Rockwell is an absolute force of nature. He dances in and out of the character in a way that shows off not only raw talent but the real work that is put into building a memorable role. The supporting cast (with special nods to Riz Ahmed, Sandra Huller, and John Goodman) while being exceptional in their own right, all seem mostly there to emphasize Cruise’s dialogue and ability. And in standalone moments, particularly Digger’s 10 minute long monologue to the U.N., Cruise puts on an absolute clinic. I’ve honestly never seen anything like it before. His costume and prosthetics are seamless, mirroring the intricate and exceptionally detailed practical effects that are utilized throughout the entire film. The set work on Digger is beyond exceptional as far as I’m concerned. The film visually stuns and constantly gives you that quirky, oddly nostalgic, but uneasy feeling that you often get from watching a great Wes Anderson film. The practical effects are top of the line and I am always going to be a sucker for set pieces like this. When utilizing actual songs/tracks, the music of the film is pretty phenomenal and serves the entire message of the film well.

On the plane of performances, set design, and overall visual creativity, I have nothing but praise, but that’s about the end of the line for me. Much like my experience with The Odyssey, I left the theater not really understanding what the average audience was supposed to feel about their experience. I sat there knowing I was experiencing a cinematic masterpiece of sorts, but it failed to move the needle on really anything for me. Subject matter being what it was, a film like this is going to do nothing to the political/social commentary already raging on in the outside world. If anything, its “bash you over the head,” like every other proselytizing Hollywood “activist,” nature might be counter active to the ideological message it was trying to portray. Am I, as a regular American audience goer, supposed to cower apologetically in my seat while this Hollywood production blows 300+ million dollars to preach about a cause we are already inundated with every day? The whole film is intentionally designed to make you feel uncomfortable, exemplified perfectly in its awkward score. Almost every moment is filled with dissonant notes and jarring, scratch your eyes out “background” noises that are amplified to the point of being painful.

I’m honestly more disappointed that Cruise would use a film like this to make his Oscar bid and equally disappointed in Hollywood for not giving him an award for a work like Maverick that I would argue deserved such recognition more. Digger stinks of a Hollywood project built entirely for the purpose of patting itself on its back for being so much holier than thou. Ironic that a film would spend an inordinate amount of time mocking Christianity while simultaneously being a bigger and more enthusiastic zealot. But that’s just a sign of the times as far as I’m concerned, it’s definitely not only Hollywood doing that. Different people will have different definitions of what movies are supposed to be and what they are made for. I would argue, that for the average working person (kind of the whole vibe of this blog, really) movies serve as escapism from the real world. It doesn’t mean that they are bereft of messaging, on the contrary the best films have a strong core behind the story. But those tend to be things like love, brotherhood, friendship, passion, goals, etc. You know, the things that make life worth living. Blowing an unholy amount of money to bash its audience over the head in the hopes they’ll return home to self-flagellate is not my definition of a good time.

Online conversations have mentioned that Idiocracy was a box office bomb that found relevance later because of its content. It sounds like they say this in the obscene hope that the events of Digger somehow come to pass, with the quiet part being that “it’ll prove the haters wrong.” Maybe it’s just me, but I’d rather not hope for the dystopian destruction of the world. I can’t predict the future, maybe this film does become a cult classic like Idiocracy did. I rather doubt it. Still, I would rather see Hollywood spending 2.5 million (Idiocracy’s cost) on making people laugh about what could be than a 300+ million hypocrisy where Digger Rockwell’s U.N. speech is a self-fulfilling prophecy. The average person doesn’t like getting preached to and Hollywood doesn’t seem to want to learn its lesson. Enjoy that 250 million dollar deficit then.

Riot’s Rating: 8/10: Content and messaging being what they are, Digger is an incredible film, I can’t deny it. Cruise will probably get his Oscar. But just wait for streaming.

P.S. Ironic that for all the bluster of the people that promote this kind of environmentalist message, they didn’t seem to show up to the box office in support. Weird.