Digger” - You Might Not Like It, But It Is Good
I get it. I do. The colors look like they're copied and pasted from Dwight Schrute's wardrobe, there's not a likeable character in the thing, and it kind of feels like they're blaming you for climate change. So I get why you might not like it. But it is a good movie.
Tom Cruise’s Digger Rockwell is an oil tycoon who is as eccentric as he is avaricious. Time and time again you see him up the ante in the pursuit of profits with no regard for anyone's dignity, well-being, or even their lives. The only care he shows any living creature is his ancient and enfeebled feline, Maggie. And even then, his care seems to be purely selfish as he uses any means to keep alive a wretched creature who would clearly rather die. But wait. This isn't a movie about Digger Rockwell! It's a play. Tom Cruise isn't playing Digger Rockwell. Tom Cruise is playing actor Curtis Markson who is portraying Digger Rockwell in a play. Confusing, I know. But, I promise, it sticks the landing.
The play in which Curtis Markson is portraying Digger Rockwell is a production funded by Digger’s nephew. During the course of the movie, a subplot unfolds in which Curtis’ daughter, who plans to attend the play’s debut, has boarded a plane to come to the come to see her father and her plane has disappeared over the open ocean. No one seems to have any idea where the airline could have gone. In his desperation to find her, Curtis turns to Digger’s nephew, a beneficiary of the wealth and power of Digger Rockwell, to help find his daughter. He says he will do so with a technology that he is very vague about and says all that he needs to track his daughter anywhere in the world is her phone number. Curtis is confused by this but, in his time of need, provides her number without asking any questions.
This small detail is important. Curtis acts out a speech given by Digger years previously where he tells the world that he knows the damage he is doing to the environment. He knows and he always knew. But he tells the people of the world that the dirty little secret of all of this is that, no matter how much they claim to care more for the environment, they secretly want him to keep drilling. They want money. They want to fly on planes for their vacations. They want all the benefits of big oil companies even as they exhibit outrage over their specific behaviors. And because they need him, they’ll put up with all of it.
And here we see the masterful parallel by Alejandro Iñárritu and his fellow writers. Both Curtis and the world cede power- not just to billionaires- but the same family of billionaires when they need something. This is the most understated moment of the film, but it's the most important. It justifies the odd structure of the movie and makes what could have been an abstract and bombastic display of faceless interchangeable people kowtowing to a cartoon villain of a man, and grounds it into one character’s choices. These choices, both as an actor portraying Digger and as a concerned father, are what drive the plot of the film.
Every choice made by Iñárritu and his excellent production team serves this end. The coloring, the cinematography, the acting choices, and even the score precisely serve to show a dichotomy between the two worlds, but also a similitude. It's uncomfortable at times. The colors are often drab, washed out, and unpleasant. The camera angles are low, angled up, and often make you feel as though you're being talked down to or are being made to feel powerless. And jumping between two stories abruptly, often at the most intense moments of one or the other, adds to a sense of frustration and powerlessness. But that's the point. It does exactly what it's supposed to. So you might not like it. This might not be a first date movie. But it is a very good movie. It does not miss. So for that fifth date, give it a watch.
Verdict 8.8/10
You should definitely watch.