A great satire must be two things: innovative and funny. Unfortunately for Tom Cruise and Oscar-winning director Alejandro G. Iñárritu, “Digger” is neither of those things.
Cruise is nearly unrecognizable, buried under layers upon layers of prosthetics transforming himself into Digger Rockwell, an eccentric oil tycoon who has affection for his wealth and his chronically ill robotic-like cat Maggie.
Digger doesn’t like to take no for an answer, even as he’s repeatedly warned that a crack at his oil drilling site in Greenland could lead to catastrophe.
Well, catastrophe quickly takes shape — what started as a small crack turned into an explosion seemingly in the blink of an eye, causing a massive ice shelf to break off and head straight to Europe. The worst fears of a tsunami and mass flooding impacting tens of millions of Europeans may become a reality.
The international dilemma puts Digger in the crosshairs — with President Compson (John Goodman) and his evangelical cabinet rushing to his remote taxidermy-filled estate to do damage control.
What’s frustrating about “Digger” is that it has all the pieces of a great film. As much as there is to admire Cruise as an actor, his performance here feels like a mishmash of his past performances (see Les Grossman in “Tropic Thunder,” or Frank T.J. Mackey in “Magnolia”). This has been positioned as the role that could finally earn him a competitive Oscar, but he and the rest of the top-tier cast give one-note performances, most of which involve yelling hysterically.
Goodman’s Compson clearly borrows elements from Donald Trump, but love or hate Trump, at least he’s a nuanced man. Oscar-nominated German actress Sandra Hüller (“Anatomy of a Fall,” “Project Hail Mary“) is utterly wasted playing Digger’s half sister Emma, spending all her screen time complaining how Digger’s global disaster will negatively impact her environmental non-profit (which he funds anyway). The only cast member who remotely gives a compelling performance is Riz Ahmed, who plays the soft-spoken scientist who has been sounding the alarm about the consequences of Rockwell Corp’s costly drilling.
Iñárritu, who directed and co-wrote 2014’s Best Picture winner “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” — an actual great satire about showbiz — attempts to swing big here but ultimately strikes out. Unlike “Birdman,” the laughs here are few and far between. Iñárritu takes bold narrative risks with plot twists that are commendable, yet there isn’t enough for an audience to engage with.
“Digger” clearly tries to emulate Stanley Kubrick’s 1964 Oscar-nominated classic “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb,” which is regarded as one of the greatest movie satires of all time. Instead, it’s more like 2021’s “Don’t Look Up,” the insufferable satire from Adam McKay that’s a giant metaphor for climate change (of course, the Academy gave it a Best Picture nod). Both sacrifice humor for over-the-top preachiness.
The most redeeming aspect of “Digger” is that it was still incredibly well-crafted between the stunning visuals from Oscar-winning cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki and the whimsical score from Cosmo Sheldrake.
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Despite Cruise and Iñárritu’s best efforts, “Digger” is truly a mess of a film that’s unworthy of the work we’re used to seeing from the two of them. You’re better off revisiting “Dr. Strangelove,” “Birdman” or any Cruise classic. It’s easily the biggest misfire of awards season.
“Digger” is rated R for pervasive language. Running time: 2 hours, 9 minutes. In theaters now.
