Digger’s opening act is terrific and tackles a burning topic in a satirical manner. As expected, director Alejandro G Iñárritu focuses beautifully on world-building. The characters are larger-than-life and nasty, but they are presented in such a quirky fashion that it enhances the impact. A few scenes are very memorable. However, there’s a massive twist in the tale that is surely unexpected. But it is also unsettling, and the interest levels immediately drop. It takes a while for the film to regain its momentum. The finale is also a bit confusing. The focus shifting to the parallel track takes away from the impact of the principal track. Tom Cruise delivers arguably the finest performance of his career and is presented in a never-before-seen avatar. Riz Ahmed has a crucial part and, in fact, dominates Tom Cruise in several scenes. John Goodman is deliberately over-the-top, and it works very well. The female actors, sadly, get limited scope. All in all, Digger is too experimental but works due to its climate change theme and Tom Cruise’s award-worthy performance.
My rating – *** out of 5!