Alejandro Iñárritu’s “Digger” suffers from too much ambition | Review

0Director Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s collaboration with Tom Cruise, “Digger,” one of the most anticipated films of the year is occasionally brilliant, sometimes flawed, but never ever boring.

The brilliant: a bravura performance from Cruise as oilman Digger Rockwell, living the businessman’s mantra “drill, baby, drill,” a phrase that will be familiar to many. He gives an impassioned, utterly amoral performance of a man whose ambition and greed know no limit.

The flaws? Iñárritu’s tries to do too much in this layered, dark comedy, but despite that fact the film maintains the ability to engage the viewer. He takes serious risks that may alienate some in the audience and his overall message may be viewed as heavy handed by some, but you can see the reasons he chose to take those leaps.

Digger is a narcissistic, amoral businessman, who thinks only of himself and lacks empathy. For example: he has an unhealthy attachment to his 30-year-old cat, who is obviously suffering from any number of maladies. Yet, because it’s the only meaningful relationship he has, the cat lives in misery.

His duty is to his oil empire and no one else and proves it by ignoring a number of messages that arrive in his inbox warning of impending doom on one of his sites in Greenland. Drilling has caused a portion of the ice shelf to separate from the larger area and it’s headed for Europe where it will cause catastrophic damage to the country and its atmosphere.

Ordered by Pres. Compson (John Goodman) to fix the problem he caused, Digger attempts to do so, but is reluctant to take the advice from experts such as Dr. Ganesh (Riz Ahmed). Instead, he turns to the president and his gung-ho military advisers and opts to blow the humongous block of ice to smithereens. The problem: blowing apart a such large mass, creates smaller masses which can inflict more damage on the countries and the environment in the process.

Sounds familiar, no? Iñárritu uses “Digger” as an opportunity to satirize all manner of relevant topics, but climate change and denial are at the forefront and it’s difficult to see where the script, written by him and collaborators Sabina Berman, Alexander Dinelaris and Nicolas Giabobone, could be considered too far off the mark. In the process, it allows them to skewer other ancillary topics including American exceptionalism, the overt Christianity in American government among other topics.

Where “Digger” comes up short, however, is piling on unneeded subplots that only serve to distract from the story. It gives the film an uneven feel.

There is nothing uneven about Cruise’s performance, however, as he turns Digger into the bombastic, self-assured idiot that he needs to be and does so with gusto. He’s given significant material to work with including a monologue reminiscent of his work in “Magnolia” and he has an equally eager supporting cast as Goodman and Ahmed give memorable turns.

They may even be Oscar worthy, but they could be dragged down by not appearing in a film that isn’t a sure thing to receive significant nominations.

“Digger” is divisive. Audiences will either love it or hate it. But there’s little doubt it should be seen so they can decide for themselves.

George M. Thomas covers a myriad of things including sports and pop culture, but mostly sports, he thinks, for the Beacon Journal.

Cast: Tom Cruise, John Goodman, Riz Ahmed, Jesse Plemons

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Alejandro Iñárritu's "Digger" suffers from too much ambition | Review