Digger

Alejandro González Iñárritu is certainly not afraid of a big swing.

Whilst it’s fair to say that Digger doesn’t get close to the heights of Birdman or The Revenant, its critical panning feels unusual, unjust and strange.

A timely swing into a meta, sci-fi, Wes Anderson-adjacent climate change satire/farce (the nature of satire and farce being hilariously discussed within the film itself) this sure is strange but also eminently watchable, thought-provoking and enjoyable.

Tom Cruise also takes a big swing for awards-recognition as he goes well against type as oil magnate Digger Rockwell, a man who may just be about to start an apocalypse event.

It’s difficult to say too much more as the film takes a couple of giant leaps you won’t see coming. Whilst, initially, it can seem a little too jarring, it coheres well at the end.

It changes the nature of the messaging somewhat and can be argued to confuse its rhetoric but when it’s clear that Iñárritu is holding a mirror up to the audience you can glean from it what you wish.

The heightened tone will certainly not be to all tastes and there are a few scenes that feel slightly too far off the edge of ‘improv’ and clearly some editing has been done to a few plot lines (Digger’s half sister gets next to nothing to do as an example) and other portions are not edited enough.

However, it's all framed and staged with absolutely luscious intricacy and it's always a treat to look at.

So it’s a little messy around the edges but, nonetheless, this is an engrossing, typically gorgeous and interesting film.

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