Cert – 15, Run-time – 2 hours 9 minutes, Director – Alejandro G. Iñárritu
Oil baron Digger Rockwell (Tom Cruise) must save the world from a natural disaster after an explosion at one of his refineries sends a country-sizes mass of ice towards Europe.
I’m interested to see Digger a second time. It’s a film that plays to its own rhythm, one that may only be stepped into by some of the audience once the reveal that’s been intentionally concealed by the marketing and filmmakers has properly shown its face. To know that rhythm, and indeed the reveal which shows the film to be as much a comment on the state of satire as it is climate change, may change the overall viewing of the film. The build-up has been a mystery and to some extent after viewing it still is. But one that has circled the mind since.
Thus far, co-writer and director Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s latest has proved, as his films tend to be, divisive – it seemed clear from the trailers that Digger would be. It’s the reveal that both helps bring the film together in its final stages, particularly the closing ten minutes, but also holds it back at some points with need for more exploration amongst oil baron Digger Rockwell’s (Tom Cruise) split between saving the world or controlling the narrative.
When an explosion at one of his oil refineries causes an ice shelf five-times the size of Washington DC to break off and head towards Europe, likely leading to tsunamis and mass flooding, he’s tasked by the President (John Goodman, nailing authoritative delegation) to minimise the dollars lost to damage – whilst Rockwell also tries to appease his own shareholders.
Ideas relating to climate change, ‘eat the rich’, money, power and aforementioned satire can feel at risk of jumble amongst the askew comedic beats at play. Not every gag lands, some fall completely flat while others get a solid chuckle, and in many ways that reflects the overall effects of the film. Some ideas feel underdeveloped and don’t quite strike the right chord, while other sequences get across what they need with help from the surroundings. There’s an intentionally sickly, washed-out look to the production design, make-up and even sound to the score but they work with the film – alongside the production design and cinematography (Iñárritu reteaming with Birdman and The Revenant cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki).
There’s clear ambition from multiple directions on screen, and one I can see having worked well on paper to have attracted the cast which also includes Riz Ahmed, Sandra Hüller and Michael Stuhlbarg. While that ambition doesn’t translate to a striking message there was enough in Digger to hold my interest and engagement. How it fares in years to come I’m not as certain as others of beloved status, I think it may continue to divide opinion, but there will be plenty who find and enjoy it.
I liked what there is here, particularly when brought round by the wider ideas on satire, and think a second viewing will work better knowing the contexts and rhythms of the film. But, whilst visually and performance-wise there are strong efforts, there was also enough of each thematic element to keep me in place whilst Digger assembled itself.
An ambitious satire on satire, Digger’s gags and ideas sometimes need more time, but what does work solidly clicks in the growing context of the film. One which may make for a film that audiences can fit more into the stride of with a follow-up viewing. For a one off, I found a generally enjoyable, if not always convincing, film that plays by its own rules and breaks them, too.
