Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s big-budget satire divided film reviewers upon its debut, opening to an even 50 percent split on Rotten Tomatoes.
Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s climate disaster satire “Digger”, starring Tom Cruise, divided film critics upon its initial reviews, opening to an even 50 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes. The Warner Bros. feature cost more than $125 million to make and marks the director’s eighth feature film. It’s Cruise’s first project with Iñárritu, who first conceived the idea in 2017.
Disaster plot and meta twist
Cruise plays Digger Rockwell, an oil tycoon dressed in bolo ties and cowboy boots under prosthetic makeup created by Kazu Hiro. Rockwell spends his mornings attending to Maggie, his ailing 30-year-old animatronic cat. The plot begins when Rockwell’s Arctic drilling operation causes a methane eruption and dislodges a 400-mile-wide ice shelf. With a catastrophic tsunami headed toward Europe, Rockwell meets with U.S. President Compson, played by John Goodman, to manage the fallout. Defense Secretary Colonel Fitzgerald, played by Robert John Burke, pushes to bomb the iceberg, while government scientist Ganesh, played by Riz Ahmed, warns that military intervention would trigger further disasters.
Sources gave conflicting details about key characters and scenes. The Hollywood Reporter described Sandra Hüller’s character, Emma, as Rockwell’s younger sister, while Variety identified her as his half-sister who runs an environmental organization. In addition, The Hollywood Reporter wrote that Rockwell delivers a 10-minute monologue defending oil consumption to the European Parliament, whereas Variety described the assembly as resembling a future United Nations. Critics also reported that the film stages a major twist about 30 minutes in, shifting into a self-referential format where cast members take on dual roles.
Sharp split among film reviews
Critical reaction to the film split into stark extremes. The London Evening Standard awarded the movie five out of five stars, describing it as “audacious, risky, terrific fun” and calling Cruise’s role his strongest acting since 1999’s “Magnolia.” Deadline praised the film as an adventurous satire that takes bold chances, while the BBC commended the massive scale of Cruise’s performance and Iñárritu’s energetic style.
Other reviewers panned the movie. Slant gave it a half-point out of five, calling it “a film full of mostly talented people doing the worst work of their careers.” The Hollywood Reporter criticized it as smug and bombastic, while the New York Post called it Cruise’s “first real stinker in nearly 10 years.” Variety wrote that the movie lacked humor and replaced satire with broad scolding. The Rated R film runs 2 hours and 9 minutes and opens in theaters on Friday, Oct. 2.
