SPOILER-FREE PLOT SUMMARY
Sometime in the future, Curtis Markson (played by Tom Cruise) is finally getting his big break. He’s the lead in a satirical comedy play called Fossil Fools where he plays the historical figure Digger Rockwell. It’s such a big moment that Markson’s daughter is catching a flight from Jamaica in order to make it to the premiere on time. The play is a comedic retelling of how Rockwell’s oil business created a catastrophic incident, breaking off an ice burg five-times the size of Washington, DC, that’s headed straight for Europe. In an effort to manage the irreversible situation, Rockwell calls the President of the United States (John Goodman) and the joint chiefs to his house so they can discuss controlling the narrative. But when his head of environmental safety Dr. Nirav Ganesh (Riz Ahmed) warns the room about the potential dangers of their suggested “solutions,” Rockwell flies to Europe to meet with European Parliament. He instructs Dr. Ganesh not to hold back in telling Parliament exactly what violations the family business has been guilty of that would cause this, and other, disasters. Seemingly always one step ahead, Rockwell then uses Dr. Ganesh’s admitted truths to further reinforce why his company’s exploits are necessary for people to live their everyday lives. As the final tech rehearsal is coming to close, just hours before curtain, a mysterious producer (Jesse Plemons) shows up and offers to help Markson with the real-life problem of his daughter’s disappearance.
SPOILER-FREE REVIEW
This is an interesting one.
DIGGER has a moment of tremendous commentary, steeped in satire, about our current political and social climate. But will viewers stay in the theater long enough to realize it? People are walking out of showings well before the reveal which is a clear indicator that, whatever director Alejandro G. Iñárritu was trying to do, a lot of audiences are missing it.
Clearly nothing is for “all audiences,” nobody’s suggesting that. Look at some of the best films in history — or, better yet, look at your favorite movie of all-time — and there’s always somebody who goes against the grain. But when you swing and miss this poorly, Iñárritu obviously sold one vision to the studio but delivered something else.
With a budget of $90 million and only drawing $24 million at the box office, if you thought THE BRIDE! was a bomb, DIGGER could give it a run for it’s money. Believed to have cost between $125-$180 million to make — and that doesn’t include the marketing — it might not even make half of that back.
Cruise, who rarely chooses garbage, has developed a rhythm. He usually hits home runs (or at least doubles) but, every 8 to 10 years, he’s involved in a dud. In 2017, there was THE MUMMY. In 2007, it was LIONS FOR LAMBS. In 2000, the worst (by a mile) installment of the MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE franchise hit theaters. So, when you really look at it, it’s no surprise that Cruise would stumble around this time.
Now, just because those movies were underwhelming doesn’t mean Cruise’s performances were. Just like LIONS FOR LAMBS 19 years ago, Cruise is great in DIGGER. He brings a certain whimsy to an unlikable character while still exploring some range in other aspects of the project. It’s quite a feat, really.
The problem is, the best movies are the ones where its sum is better than any one of its parts. Take A FEW GOOD MEN. Cruise, of course, was spectacular in that but it’s considered one of the best films of the 90’s because no one player off the all-star roster of Cruise, Demi Moore, Kevin Bacon, Kevin Pollak, Kiefer Sutherland and Jack Nicholson steals the movie. Seeing Kaffe and Jessep fire away at each other in the courtroom is legendary but Galloway confronting Kaffe about his drinking the night before the trial and Kendrick getting backed into a corner while on the stand and Ross baiting Kaffe in the bar are all scenes of brilliance that only lift the movie from “great” to “elite.”
Despite the similar-caliber cast, there’s none of that here in DIGGER.
I applaud the film for taking a swing but, in the end, I can’t imagine an everyday audience member wanting to sit through two hours of this.
JKG SCORE: 5.5 out of 10
