DIGGER Reviewed by GREG KING
Director: Alejandro G Inarritu
Stars: Tom Cruise, John Goodman, Riz Ahmed, Sandra Huller, Jesse Plemons, Michael Stuhlbarg, Robert John Burke, Burn Gorman, Sophie Wilde, Pip Torrens.
This bonkers and offbeat comedy is sure to be one of the more divisive films of the year. Fans of Tom Cruise, the action hero of the Mission: Impossible and Jack Reacher franchises are going to be a little confused and disappointed by this black comedy from Oscar winning Mexican filmmaker Alejandro G Inarritu (Birdman, etc). Inarritu is one of those directors who rarely plays it safe, preferring to push the boundaries and conventions of narrative cinema until it virtually snaps. Here he swings at the fences and, although he doesn’t hit a home run, he gives us plenty of food for thought with this film that is equal part social commentary and political satire.
In one of his most bizarre roles to date Cruise plays Digger Rockwell, the wealthy and eccentric oil billionaire who loves his ailing cat Maggie. For a while he has deliberately ignored warnings from his scientists about a methane leak that has opened up a wide crack in the ice field. When one of his drilling rigs explodes in Greenland it triggers an ecological disaster of epic proportions that threatens much of Europe. An iceberg five times the size of Washington DC is headed for the European coastline where it will cause massive damage and loss of lives.
Digger meets with deranged and ailing US President Compson (an almost unrecogniseable John Goodman, clearly having fun) and his advisers and military strategists to discuss a solution to the crisis. These scenes will remind audiences of Stanley Kubrick’s 1964 classic Dr Strangelove. About 30 minutes in the film takes an abrupt change in direction, and its ambitious structure will certainly remind audiences of Inarritu’s Oscar winning Birdman.
Written by Inarritu, Sabina Berman (Mexico’s most successful and award-winning playwright), Jez Butterworth (Ford V Ferrari, etc), Alexander Dinelaris jr and Nicholas Giacobone (Birdman, etc), Digger deals with some potent and contemporary themes including power, the global energy crisis, the climate crisis, the fossil fuel industry, the corrupt nexus between big oil and government policy, capitalism, US imperialism, the rapacious greed of billionaire businessmen. There is a lot happening in the film. Apparently Inarritu began working on the idea while making The Revenant, and it has taken a decade to bring his idea to fruition.
There are several twists and unexpected turns throughout, and Inarritu also includes some slapstick moments with characters tripping over a metal shovel. The rather downbeat, bleak and unexpected ending will certainly have audiences talking as they leave the cinema.
Cruise revels in the role of the bellicose, eccentric, fast talking and foul-mouthed Digger. He is committed to the risky role with his full-on swaggering performance here and he is obviously hoping that his performance will gain Oscar traction. His usual looks and physique are buried under some clever make-up and prosthetics to make him appear older, paunchy and harried. There is one scene in which an unapologetic Digger addresses a volatile European parliament which is almost Felliniesque in style, and it gives Cruise his “greed is good” moment.
Riz Ahmed (from Nightcrawler, etc) is good as the timid Dr Ganesh, Digger’s environmental expert and adviser. Sandra Huller delivers a more restrained performance in an underdeveloped role as Emma, Digger’s half-sister and business partner. Goodman is suitably over the top with his superbly flamboyant turn as a deranged and buffoonish Trump-like President. Inarritu has assembled a solid supporting cast that includes Jesse Plemons, Michael Stuhlbarg, Robert John Burke as a gung-ho general, and Burn Gorman, who all throw themselves into their roles with a similar level of commitment. However, it is hard to really care about any of these grotesque characters.
The film boasts some impressive production design from Dennis Gassner and Richard L Johnson which creates the interior of Digger’s lavish mansion. Regular cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki uses a diverse colour palette to match the distinctive mood for each scene, and he uses handheld cameras and seemingly uninterrupted shots to give the material a sense of momentum and energy. And the sound design, particularly a loud clanging, is at times deliberately jarring.
Digger is one of those films that confound expectations and it will be interesting to see how audiences, and Cruise fans in particular, respond.
★★★
