Digger Review
Digger (2026) Film Review, a movie directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, written by Sabina Berman, Jez Butterworth and Alexander Dinelaris and starring Tom Cruise, Riz Ahmed, John Goodman, Sandra Hüller, Michael Stuhlbarg, Jesse Plemons, Robert John Burke, Emma D’Arcy, Burn Gorman, Mercedes Hernández, Danny Kirrane, Pip Torrens, Aetheria Angel, Tom Bell, Kenton Craig and James Dryden.
Filmmaker Alejandro G. Iñárritu takes a rare stumble with Digger, a film that showcases Tom Cruise in a few great scenes and a lot of mediocre ones. Cruise plays the title character, Digger Rockwell, a wealthy tycoon who goes on and on about the power of oil, but seems to be a bit full of himself on many occasions. Of course he is. He would be comparable to Donald Trump if the movie didn’t take itself so seriously in its analysis of other serious worldwide issues. This film suffers immensely because after an interesting first hour, it takes an inane plot detour from which it never truly bounces back.
Alejandro G. Iñárritu had the potential to make something great here, but then the movie feels like it takes us back to some of the themes of his Oscar-winning movie, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance). This movie starts off so strongly that it could have gone into territory like the great 1976 film Network did. That film immersed the viewer in, but no such luck this time out. Instead of following an unattractive, but wealthy, older guy like the film suggests it will, the movie pulls the rug from its initial premise about halfway through. Digger is so full of himself and intent on making others listen to his mumbo-jumbo, the movie had what it could have needed to be great. Yes, the ingredients were all there for a winner. Alas, the filmmaker seems to have taken the movie in the wrong direction as you’ll witness about halfway through.
This film opens with Cruise’s overweight Digger character feeding his ugly cat and tending to its needs. Iñárritu sets up a backstory that could have helped shape its lead character if the filmmaker wasn’t doing something else entirely than what you think he’s doing at the film’s start.
Eventually, the film builds to a stirring scene of Cruise’s Digger making a long speech about how people are consumed by everything and are entirely dependent on oil for their survival. This sequence is quite long, and is masterfully shot as people in the background get angry at Digger’s wild assertions as he spits off generalities and stupidity in waves. Some people seem to agree with Digger while others hate him. Cruise is at his best in this scene and it ranks as perhaps some of his best moments in cinematic history. Then, the movie does him dirty with a plot twist that takes almost everything away from this scene’s power. Oh, wow. Mr. Iñárritu, what did you do?
There’s a stellar supporting cast and with the exception of John Goodman as President Compson, and Jesse Plemons as a key character called Kenny, the other performers are entirely wasted. Riz Ahmed’s assistant character, Ganesh, is wacky beyond belief, and Sandra Hüller should have asked to be cut from the picture due to the far better work she’s done this year. That’s how insignificant her role feels. If her character was kept off-screen, the movie would have worked much better.
Goodman is having the time of his life here, acting wildly unpredictable, and he will leave the audience in awe at the commitment he brings to the part. Unfortunately, he too, is just a pawn in the storyline the movie is really telling. Imagine Birdman with hefty political issues and you get an idea of what Digger is all about.
When Digger reveals its plot twist, it may clear out half the theater and keep the other half waiting to see where the usually brilliant filmmaker is going. It’s not that you won’t be interested in seeing where he goes, it’s just that he doesn’t go where this movie could have gone without the lame twist.
Jesse Plemons has a few minutes to shine as he usually does in any role he is playing. He and Cruise share some good moments, mostly thanks to Plemons’s terrifically precise work in a particular scene, but Cruise isn’t always consistent with the quality of the performance he gives.
Cruise overacts and underacts and sometimes hits the nail right on the head while, at other times, he sort of misses the point of the film with some of his line deliveries. However, the movie doesn’t really clarify all of its key points. Instead, it presents ideas that seem like they’re being made up off the top of the heads of the screenwriters. Digger needed to find some more interesting things to do with the Digger character. In the film’s closing moments, Cruise’s work takes a backseat to the film’s political agenda
Digger tries hard to be interesting and it’s a hit-and-miss affair. It misses when it gets to the plot twist, and those revealing storyline details may make the viewer wish that Cruise’s character was really going to take the risks the audience thought he would. Also, the plot makes the viewer hope that Digger would follow suit in terms of facing the consequences of those risks. At the end, fans of the movie will say that the movie achieves its goals through the artistic measures the plot features. Most people will be sorry Cruise probably won’t come close to winning the Oscar for what could have been a great role. It’s a close call, but this one is a miss.
Rating: 6/10
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