Digger – Movie Reviews by Ry!

Digger – Of Saviors and Tycoons: A Glacier Satire

For the realist of moments, sometimes you just spin threads with a slapstick and a smile.  A statement like this may seem odd, but to breathe emotions into a tale, you must splash that canvas with a risk of unknown colors.  With film, that is done with satire.  It is a risk, but it can end up being a work of art.  In this review, I look at the latest satire/drama to hit the big screen.  Through an ironic premise and strong acting, Digger is a journey that pushes the meaning of raising the stakes … in a laughable kind of way.

When an oil tycoon embarks on his latest endeavor, what starts off promising may become a disaster in the end.  Through the abstract of general ideas, we all want to create tales that have a certain girth … a certain feel that pushes personal connections.  From action to romance, everything becomes a touch of the moment, a notion to make you see another complexion of what is above and beyond.  For films that twist the knife of reality, it is a risk of creativity that may lead to a unique path of enjoyment.  This film takes this route, turning a social satire into something that becomes a mirror of relative means.  We come into this film through the drop-in method, being introduced to Digger Rockwell (Tom Cruise), a rich businessman who continually raises the stakes in the oil business.  Through raw conversations and surreal like humor, we learn that his latest ‘venture’ in the Arctic has caused a massive glacier to break (plot point).  With his business and the world’s survival at stake, it is up to Digger to ‘find a way’ and save society from mother nature.  As his journey begins, it becomes a series of satirical moments that reflect upon our current layers of society.  Through over-the-top comedic scenes and slick dialogue, the experience becomes much more than caricatures placed on a soundstage.  The continual obtuse like exaggerations that come to the forefront lead to a creative string that purposely puts you in a ‘what if’ situation.  Each scene with Digger is a ripple of oddities that make you feel as if there is a ‘fourth wall’ breaking but not knowing if it is coming from you or the filmmakers.  As the stakes continue to rise, it becomes a layer that strikes a tone of stoicism through art house motifs.  Things feel real (even if absurd), but the authentic mirror of what comes is a manner of driving that grip to see … what will Digger do to ‘save the world’. 

As that question of saviorhood stands at the forefront, it is at this point that things take a turn of unorthodox means.  What started out as a surrealistic complexion of society becomes a higher reflection of life’s purpose in telling a tale.  The over-the-top nature becomes a smokescreen of tension, where the visible is a lens into a creative take on what it means to laugh through despair.  As this happens, loose ends come together, leading to a third act, a reflective like climax and a retrospective epilogue.  Digger is a surreal twist on what it means to live and laugh at society.  If you are a fan of satire, this is one for you. For all its odd like traits, I think this is worth seeing on the big screen.

Full Score – 3.5 out of 5 (Matinee)