Digger – ignorance is bliss?

Plot

Digger Rockwell, who owns an oil company, sends his team to Greenland to extract oil from under an iceberg. While doing so, the ocean bed starts erupting methane gas, which also begins harming marine life. Digger, being Digger, knows exactly what is happening and still continues the project because, apparently, stopping and thinking about the consequences is not really his thing. Things eventually go completely out of control when his entire oil rig blows up, causing the giant iceberg named Judy to break away from the main iceberg and start floating towards Europe. This creates complete panic in the President’s office, as everyone suddenly has to figure out how to deal with the situation.

The movie then revolves around pathetic decision-making, misogyny and total chaos as everyone tries to figure out how to avert this mishap and whether they should prepare for a war. What makes the situation even more entertaining is watching people in power trying to deal with a problem that has already become much bigger than them. The movie uses this ridiculous situation to show how badly things can go when powerful people ignore warnings, make decisions without properly understanding the consequences and then have to deal with the mess they have created. Find out what happens in the theatres.

Is Digger worth watching?

Yes, it is worth watching. Watch it for Tom Cruise or director Alejandro González Iñárritu, because this film is a great example of how to make a satire and execute it wisely. It shows the ignorance of people in power while also showing how poor and regular people end up suffering because of their decisions. The film becomes a mirror to society, but at the same time, it makes you laugh along the way. What I liked is that it does not simply tell you that these people are ignorant or arrogant. It puts you in situations where you can actually see how ridiculous their decisions become when things start going south.

For me, this has to be Tom Cruise’s best film yet in terms of acting, screenplay and the way he carries the film without constantly asking for attention. He does not need to keep reminding you that he is Tom Cruise. The character itself does the work, and that makes his performance even more interesting to watch. The monologue where he addresses the people after the mishap is a great example of how to turn a bad action into a great story, by offending, encouraging and even gaslighting people at the same time. It is one of those moments where the way the character handles the situation becomes just as interesting as the situation itself. Let’s talk more about that below.

Acting

The entire cast makes Digger worth watching. From start to end, Tom Cruise nails every aspect of his character, and you will know exactly what I mean after watching the film. The actors playing characters around Digger, especially the President and Dr. Ganesh, were convincing and genuinely worth watching too. Each character had good comedic timing, an emotional arc and that constant panicking vibe that makes the whole situation even more entertaining. Everyone feels like they are dealing with this completely ridiculous situation in their own way, and that adds to the chaos without making the performances feel disconnected from each other.

Tom steals the show for sure, especially in the way he handles Digger’s behaviour. Whether he is gaslighting Ganesh into eating salmon or addressing the public after the great tsunami his company caused, there is a certain confidence in the way he plays the character. The long uncut take was a brilliant performance, and what made it even better was how much Tom was moving around during the scene. He was not simply standing in one place and delivering his dialogue. His movement made the entire scene more engaging and fun to watch.

Riz Ahmed had this innocence to him that slowly turned into a loss of sanity as he watched leaders and people in power ignore his warnings and take him for granted. You can see that change in the way he reacts to everything happening around him, and it worked really well for me. There is also satire about how women and race are acknowledged, showing how some Americans think they are superior in almost every area of life. There is ignorance, arrogance and even religion bashing, but the film manages to show all of this without feeling like it is trying to hurt any sentiment.

Instead, it shows how these powerful people live their lives and how they treat others when things start going south. That is where a lot of the satire works for me. The film does not need to explain these behaviours to the audience because it simply shows them through the characters. The cast plays into that really well, and that is one of the reasons the performances remain engaging throughout the movie.

What I liked in Digger?

The acting was next level, but the cinematography was the cherry on the cake. There are certain shots that can literally shock you, especially the reveal after 10 to 15 minutes in the movie. The dynamic shot where Tom addresses the people is another example of some great camera work. There were certain shots that genuinely provoked emotions in me and made me feel like I was a part of the movie. The way the camera moves and captures these moments adds another layer to what is already happening on screen.

And then there is IMAX, which definitely added to the experience. Some of the shots genuinely felt larger than life, and this is one of those movies where I would recommend experiencing the visuals on a bigger screen. I also really liked the music because it builds tension in some places, while in others it literally makes all the people on screen look even more dumb. I liked how the music could change the feeling of a scene without needing to do too much.

I really liked the ending because it gives a nice payoff to the twist that happens at the start of the film. That payoff worked for me because the film had already established that particular situation, and when it comes back to it later, it feels satisfying to see how everything connects. The colours were nice too, although I wanted more saturation. But then I started thinking that maybe they intentionally wanted everything to look pale and lifeless because that reflects how these people’s lives feel, or maybe I am thinking too much.

Either way, I would recommend you guys watch this in IMAX. The cinematography is one of the strongest parts of the film for me, and some of those shots definitely deserve to be experienced on a bigger screen. There were moments where the camera work, music and scale came together really well and made me feel much more involved in what was happening.

What I did not like?

Maybe it was the theatre I was in, or maybe my ears have become sensitive after watching these loud Indian films, but some of the sound effects in Digger had really high dB levels that genuinely made me cover my ears. There were certain moments where the sound felt unnecessarily loud for me, and it took me out of the experience for a bit. This could obviously have been specific to the theatre I watched it in, but it was still something I noticed while watching the film.

While the cinematography was peak, some of the close-up shots were way too close for me. At certain points, the eyeline or safe margins did not match what I would normally expect visually, and it became slightly distracting. These are small things, but because the cinematography was otherwise so strong, I noticed them more. There were also certain parts that felt slow and stretched, and I did feel the pacing dragging in places.

But honestly, those issues get shadowed by the major good parts of the film. The acting, cinematography, satire, music and the way the film handles its chaos are strong enough that the slower portions never completely took me out of the experience. For me, Digger is still a film worth watching, especially if you want to see Tom Cruise doing something very different from the kind of performance we usually associate with him.