Alejandro Iñárritu’s Digger movie review: Tom Cruise strips away the hero persona in a complex climate satire

Oscar-winning director Alejandro G Iñárritu’s latest film Digger strips Hollywood superstar Tom Cruise of all the frills and presents him in one of the actor’s most experimental films to date. In recent years, the audience has witnessed Cruise perform death-defying stunts in action thrillers. The man who, in innumerable films, refused to age and gave actors half his age a major complex by performing risky stunts, ages and how in Digger plays a character who is self-aware of his misdeeds and even wants to come clean.

Buried under heavy prosthetics, Cruise plays Digger Rockwell, an oil tycoon in Iñárritu’s climactic satire, which talks of power and politics and how it influences society at large. The satire, while highlighting some pertinent issues, is also indulgent with its storytelling, making Digger a very complex film which is not palatable for regular film watchers.

What’s the plot of Digger

Wealthy oil tycoon Digger Rockwell finds himself in the middle of a global climate crisis after one of his oil rigs explodes in Alaska. The repercussions are tsunami-level and can affect all of Europe. Digger is initially is internally optimistic about the situation and not ready to take the blame, despite the fact that many of his employees had already warned him of this day before. He eventually realises that he has to face the consequences and wants to come clean. However, the US President (John Goodman) and his advisors are myopic about the catastrophe at hand, despite Dr Ganesh, Digger’s chief scientist, constantly pushing facts about the crisis at hand. The President is more concerned about his future; Digger’s half-sister Emma (Sandra Huller), who runs the greener side of the family business, is concerned about her image and Digger now has to take the lead to handle the global crisis. The narrative not only focuses on the climate crisis, but also focuses on American politics, family dynamics and even art, as the plot is set within a play, making each actor play dual characters.

What works and what does not

Let’s just say Digger is not for everyone. It commands your attention, makes you think and makes you dig deeper. A regular cinema watcher, who is used to commercial thrillers and linear story format, may find the narrative extremely complex. The filmmaker goes all out in taking jibes at the powerful and the rich who often have a myopic view when dealing with global crises. A scene in the beginning shows the US Army head sizing up Dr Ganesh and asking where he is originally from, pompous about his white skin and condescending toward the brown man who is easily the most intelligent in the room. Moments later, a group of white men plot vague plans of how to make America look good and be the saviour amid this catastrophe, not realising that it's they who have created the crisis in the first place.

Iñárritu’s vision is indulgent, and you have to go with the flow as he creates a massive canvas. It's a story within a story. A play about Digger and the global climate crisis where Cruise plays an actor retelling a similar incident from the past that has had an actual effect on him and his family. With a non-linear narrative and metaphors galore, it is tough to keep up. The makers also reiterate a lot of the plot points, making the story repetitive.

While the film and story are indulgent and complex, it is Tom Cruise who makes it worth your time. We are all so used to watching Cruise play a larger-than-life national hero saving the world in most of his films that his portrayal as the flawed Oil tycoon in Digger takes time to settle in. But once you get used to it Cruise takes you on a very interesting ride. With a prosthetic belly and a thick Southern accent, Cruise charms you and engages with you. Riz Ahmed as Dr Ganesh also complements Cruise well on screen. While Digger is eccentric, Ganesh grounds him every so often. Similarly, John Goodman plays the megalomaniac president well.

Final Verdict

The film, while being a satire on the climate crisis and the politics behind it, also touches upon corporate greed, the honesty of art and actors, white supremacy, and more. The result is a very complex film that will have very divisive viewpoints from its audience. Digger may not be fully cohesive, but it still makes a powerful commentary about the world we live in, where the rich and the powerful often sideline pertinent issues about the environment, which in fact need urgent attention. With Digger, filmmaker Alejandro G. Iñárritu holds up a mirror to the world to make everyone sit up and take notes about the environment around us. However, the message is delivered through a very convoluted story.

Digger is now running in cinemas.