On paper, Digger has everything going for it. It has an Academy Award-winning director in Alejandro González Iñárritu. It stars Tom Cruise in a rare non-blockbuster role. It has an ensemble cast that includes Riz Ahmed, Sandra Hüller, John Goodman and Michael Stuhlbarg. It presents itself as a chaotic comedy about an eccentric oil tycoon. So, how come it doesn’t feel like it?
Oil company owner Digger Rockwell (Cruise) is a wealthy and powerful American, and a disturbingly proud cat dad. Close to the US President (John Goodman), Digger’s every word seems to be golden. But when catastrophic events involving an ice shelf happen on his watch, his demeanour unravels from an eccentric protagonist to someone truly delusional. Amid all his talk about the benefits of oil and how he provides ‘freedom’ to society (through fuel), he becomes a caricature of every powerful man in America—all talk (nay, yelling) and no action.
This becomes the de facto direction for the majority of the characters, all of whom are influential figures that range from the President to Fitzgerald (Robert John Burke), a gruff US colonel. Their power feeds their patriotic arrogance yet highlights their cluelessness regarding the well-being of other nations besides the US, choosing to conceal the extent of the potentially apocalyptic situation rather than be accountable. Its resonance with real-life figures deliver a chuckle but after a while, the shouting characters become frustratingly one-dimensional that lack in laughs. An exception needs to be made for Riz Ahmed’s Dr Ganesh, the film’s token person of colour and whose empathy makes him the lone sane beacon amid a sea of deranged idiocy.
The satire exacerbates when Digger’s true story comes to light, hinting that there is more to this piece than just a global catastrophe. The roots of the story slowly unfolds as audiences learn more about his life, adding layers to a character initially dismissed as an extrovert. However, not enough time is allowed to explore these layers of character development, especially when they are overshadowed by the core narrative. Therefore, any emotional investment is wasted to accommodate flat comedy.
Like Birdman and The Revenant, Digger is the latest Iñárritu vehicle driven by its lead male performance—a fitting role for the arguably biggest actor in Hollywood. Outfitted with prosthetics and sharp suits, Cruise channels a planet-sized ego into his portrayal as Digger to deliver his most boisterous performance since Tropic Thunder’s Les Grossman. A standout scene sees Digger adamantly addressing a forum of haters yet never drops his conviction in his ‘duty’ to provide oil. Fluid camerawork and Cruise’s delivery of the charged screenplay makes this a pivotal set piece, but it is a solitary scene that is as high-brow as the film gets.
With such an incredulous story, it is difficult to keep track of the film’s direction. The film’s tonal shifts between the different facets of Digger’s story increasingly confuse audiences, blurring it between a comedy, drama and quiet tragedy. It is unclear as to whether this is to lessen the lesson of Digger’s predicament or provide an outlet for a tale that seems so outlandish that it could not be real. Either way, the film feels as incomprehensible as the protagonist’s mentality.
Despite its promise, Digger is a creative misfire. Too dark to be satire and too bland to be funny, it becomes buried under its own ambition that not even its talented cast can dig themselves out.
Digger is out in UK cinemas on Friday 2 October.
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Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu; Alexander Dinelaris, Nicolás Giacobone, Sabina Berman (co-screenwriters)
Stars: Tom Cruise, Riz Ahmed, Sandra Hüller, John Goodman, Jesse Plemons, Michael Stuhlbarg
Runtime: 129 minutes
Country: USA, Mexico, UK
