Tom Cruise Strikes Gold Even as ‘Digger’ Hits Rock Bottom
Where does one even begin to describe Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Digger? As a director, Iñárritu has built a career by thinking far outside the traditional cinematic box, often with huge wins. Movies like The Revenant and Birdman have not only been box-office successes, but have also been recognized for the incredible work that went into bringing them to the silver screen. His vision is one of a kind, and people keep talking about his films long after they arrive on home media. So when you have one of the biggest artistic directors at the helm, Digger should be a home run, right?
I wish I could say Iñárritu knocked this one out of the park, but instead Digger gives audiences one of Tom Cruise’s best performances in perhaps one of the messiest films of the year. Somewhere between the director’s grand ambitions and relentless determination to make a point, the film occasionally forgets to give audiences a little breathing room to digest its core message. That said, Digger isn’t a cinematic disaster. The cast is stacked with recognizable names, and they bring talent to every scene. Not to mention the cinematography that practically demands the largest screen available.
[Warning: spoilers from Digger are below!]
A different side of Tom Cruise
For almost his entire career, Tom Cruise has been synonymous with impressive feats of athleticism and true heroics. He’s known for daring stunts (people still talk about him dangling off the side of an airplane) and has defied nearly every law of physics. Audiences have grown accustomed to watching him pull off the impossible, as he keeps outdoing himself with every new film that hits cinemas.
However, in Digger, Tom Cruise steps outside the role he’s become accustomed to and plays someone whose greatest accomplishment might be making the impossible considerably worse. Digger Rockwell is every bit as wealthy and arrogant as you would expect from a powerful oil mogul who’s unleashed one of the worst environmental disasters in existence. Not wanting to face the reality of his actions and accept the blame he absolutely should, Digger instead launches one of the most insane spin campaigns ever. With humanity hanging in the balance, his primary concern becomes convincing everyone he’s the only one qualified to save the world.
Digger’s the sort of character who could easily become an exhausting caricature, and the film sometimes comes dangerously close. At times, you can’t believe what you’re seeing, only for the film to push the character’s ridiculousness even further. Yet even as you roll your eyes at the ever-increasing satire as Digger progresses, Tom Cruise’s commitment to the material is hard to dismiss.
Beneath elaborate prosthetics and an exaggerated Texas persona, Cruise fully embraces Rockwell’s ridiculousness without relying on his established movie-star charm. His performance operates somewhere between outrageous satire and a psychological character study, which is why this role is one of my most interesting. In this film, audiences see a man in all his glory whose extraordinary power has left him spectacularly disconnected from reality. And yet, that’s only part of the story. Digger features one of the most unique twists in Tom Cruise’s character and the larger story. But talking about it would spoil something you need to experience firsthand.
That said, what makes this performance especially intriguing is the contrast between Rockwell’s public face and the vulnerability beneath it. Cruise has always been particularly effective at portraying characters who mistake confidence for control, and Digger gives him an opportunity to push that quality into deeply uncomfortable territory. At times, his performance feels deliberately excessive, but that excess also reflects the character’s inability to recognize his own absurdity.
It’s refreshing to see Cruise abandon the familiar comforts of blockbuster heroism for a role that allows him to be ridiculous, unpleasant, and occasionally pathetic. Not every creative decision surrounding the character works, but his willingness to take the risk deserves recognition. Sometimes the most impressive stunt an actor can pull off is stepping outside the persona audiences have expected for decades.
Yet Cruise isn’t the only actor who excels in this film. Alejandro González Iñárritu has assembled an Avengers-level roster of actors to bring this story to life. From Riz Ahmed, John Goodman, and Jesse Plemons, to name a few, everyone delivers career-defining performances. Still, this impressive cast exposes one of Digger’s limitations. With so much attention devoted to Rockwell and the film’s larger thematic ambitions, the supporting players don’t always receive the narrative space their abilities warrant.
It’s a familiar problem with ensemble-driven spectacles: assembling an extraordinary cast is one thing, but giving everyone something equally extraordinary to do is another. Nevertheless, the performers’ strength keeps the material engaging, especially when the screenplay focuses more on delivering commentary than developing character relationships.
A visual feast that occasionally overwhelms in Digger
Whatever frustrations arise from the film’s storytelling, the visual ambition is impossible to overlook. Reuniting with acclaimed cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, Iñárritu delivers breathtaking shots that give the film’s unsettling world an expansive canvas. Lubezki has established himself as one of contemporary cinema’s most accomplished visual storytellers, and his involvement brings the project an unmistakable sense of craftsmanship.
The cinematography emphasizes the divide between the personal concerns of those involved and the global consequences surrounding them. The lavish surroundings become visual expressions of unchecked wealth, while the film’s environmental threat provides a much larger context for his increasingly desperate attempts at self-preservation. Digger becomes a world where wealth and excess become almost inseparable from the film’s visual language. Even the most extravagant surroundings cannot disguise the story’s moral emptiness. Yet the visuals also reflect the film’s occasional tendency toward overstatement.
Iñárritu has never been a filmmaker particularly interested in subtle gestures when a grand cinematic statement is available, and Digger continues that tradition with considerable enthusiasm. At its best, the imagery reinforces the story’s underlying absurdity. At its most indulgent, the presentation threatens to become more captivating than the narrative itself. There’s certainly nothing wrong with a film looking extraordinary. But when the visual spectacle becomes more memorable than the emotional experience, something important can get lost. Digger is unquestionably a production designed for the theatrical experience. Whether its visual magnificence consistently serves its storytelling is another matter.
Final thoughts on this Warner Bros. film
Whether the film looks brilliant or has more actors giving career-defining performances, something about Digger just doesn’t work. Perhaps it’s the story that volleys between fact and fiction, without really finding its footing. Or maybe it’s the message, spoon-fed to audiences in every possible approach, that makes this film start to feel preachy. Some audiences will undoubtedly embrace the audacity Iñárritu has infused into it. They’ll find charm in the unconventional storytelling and unapologetically abrasive satire, making Digger probably a top-tier film on their Letterboxd. However, others, like me, will find its relentless ambition exhausting, especially when the film seems more interested in demonstrating its intelligence than delivering an emotionally satisfying experience. Both reactions are understandable, and there’s no right or wrong way to experience the film.
That being said, Tom Cruise delivers a memorable performance, reminding audiences that his abilities extend far beyond daring action sequences. The supporting ensemble brings considerable talent to the proceedings, while Emmanuel Lubezki’s cinematography ensures that even the film’s most frustrating passages possess undeniable visual appeal.
Yet the impressive individual elements don’t always come together into an equally impressive whole. Iñárritu has created a film bursting with ideas, ambition, and technical sophistication, but one that occasionally becomes so enamored with its own message that it forgets the importance of narrative balance. Still, there’s something admirable about a movie willing to take this many chances, even when some don’t pay off. Digger may not strike cinematic gold with every swing, but it certainly isn’t afraid to get its hands dirty. And in an industry increasingly comfortable playing it safe, that willingness to dig into unfamiliar territory counts for something.
Digger is currently in theaters! Are you planning on checking out the film? Share your thoughts on social media and tag @bsb.insider to keep the conversation going!
