Mission: Impossible star Tom Cruise takes on a very different type of role in Academy Award-winning filmmaker Alejandro G. Iñárritu's Digger. Playing the world's most powerful man, Cruise's Digger Rockwell will embark on a frantic mission to prove he is humanity's saviour before the disaster he's unleashed destroys everything.
While the trailers and early buzz for Digger suggested it stood a chance of running away with countless prizes during next year's awards season, the reviews are just as mixed as early reactions.
With 79 verdicts counted on Rotten Tomatoes, Digger has debuted on the review aggregator with a "Rotten" 52%. It will need to surpass 60% to avoid that dreaded green splat, but that's looking increasingly unlikely as more reviews come in.
"There is no doubt it will, and should spark conversation and, love it or hate it, it should not be ignored," writes Deadline. "For me it is like a return to the kind of adventurous films in cinema’s groundbreaking era of the 70’s, but it isn’t easily defined."
The Hollywood Reporter adds, "I was reminded of colossal misfires like Damien Chazelle’s Babylon and David O. Russell’s Amsterdam, bloated movies by directors so drunk on their exalted reputations they forgot there was an audience to consider."
"It makes the movie, however unintentionally, seem to be about nothing so much as Tom Cruise taking on this role, and Iñárritu erecting the edifice for him to stand on," Variety bemoans. "And that’s a tone-deaf mistake."
Los Angeles Times explains, "Tom Cruise has dangled from cliffs, skyscrapers and planes, but oil magnate Digger Rockwell is his riskiest role in eons," with The New York Times delivering a scathing, "You can tell that [Tom Cruise and Alejandro González Iñárritu] think their new film is urgent. And in a way, it is. Audiences will urgently want to leave after the first five minutes."
IGN posits, "Digger's satire may not change your thinking on global warming, but there are excellent performances and more than a few laughs." Empire concurs, stating, "Visually impressive, and Cruise gives his all. But Digger doesn’t have much going on beneath the surface. A disappointing waste of a superb team."
There are some glowing verdicts. The UK's Daily Telegraph concludes, "I’m not sure whether the debate it’s having with itself about art’s impotence in the face of catastrophe is one it can, or even wants to, resolve. But what a thrill to watch Iñárritu and Cruise hash it out with so much beauty, daring and extravagance."
London Evening Standard says, "Audacious, risky, terrific fun and -- for at least half the planet -- the wildest ride you’ll get this year," while USA Today declares, "Wearing facial prosthetics, a faux beer belly and a Texas-sized twang, Cruise pushes his own considerable boundaries and reminds that the dude can still put on an acting masterclass when he wants."
Iñárritu directs Digger from a screenplay by Iñárritu and Oscar-winners Alexander Dinelaris & Nicolás Giacobone, and Sabina Berman, and a story by Iñárritu & Berman. The film is produced by Iñárritu, Mary Parent, Cruise and Michael Sharp, and executive produced by Joshua Grode, Berman, Dinelaris, Giacobone, Jez Butterworth and Emmanuel Lubezki.
Cruise stars in the title role, alongside Riz Ahmed, John Goodman, Sandra Hüller, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Jesse Plemons. Robert John Burke, Emma D'Arcy, Burn Gorman and Sophie Wilde also star.
Digger was shot entirely in VistaVision and will be released in theaters and on IMAX screens on October 2.