Digger Review: Cruise and Iñárritu Take Wildly Entertaining Swings In Sometimes Directionless Comedy
Tom Cruise teams with Alejando González Iñárritu (Birdman, The Revenant) for the first time with Digger, a absurd drama/comedy that is filled with twists and turns.
Synopsis:
"The most powerful man in the world embarks on a frantic mission to prove he is humanity’s savior before the disaster he’s unleashed destroys everything."
Cast: Tom Cruise, Riz Ahmed, John Goodman, Sandra Huller, MIchael Stuhlbarg, Jesse Plemons
Release Date:
In Theaters October 2nd
Edtor's Note: Warner Brothers were kind enough to invite us to attend an early screening of Tom Cruise's Digger last night! I've been emargo'd to this point, but now here's my full review. Thanks to WB and everyone involved for a great night in NYC!
Cruise Leads Outstanding Cast
One of the main draws for this film has been Tom Cruise not looking like Tom Cruise in every one of the promos. He is obviously wearing incredibly heavy makeup and prosthetics for this transformative role, and that's certainly a big part of his great performance. However, what the promos don't show you is how layered it really is. The story doesn't play out as expected, which allows for so many different sides and complications to his character. Sure, the egotistical oil baron is absolutely still there. He has a monologue in the scene from the above photo that is full on movie villain and also simultaneously his best five minutes of acting in the entire film. However, there is more than meets the eye for Digger Rockwell and it causes Cruise to dig into acting chops that we haven't seen from him in decades. With these many sides of his character, you see Digger most of the time but also see that classic Cruise charm in others. This character has a presence that would've been really hard to sell me on if it wasn't a titan in the industry playing him. For me it's certainly Oscar-Worthy, regardless of what you think of the film as a whole.
Almost on the same level as Cruise for me is Riz Ahmed. Ahmed has sort of flown under the radar in recent years, building a good resume and getting some awards recognition but never truly breaking through. This is it for me, as he genuinely goes toe-to-toe with Cruise in multiple scenes. Due to their characters' relationship, it causes many back and forth conversations that typically delve into full on arguments. Just like Digger, Cruise clearly is challenging Ahmed to step up and he rises to the top in every scene he's in. He's also got a very layered role with many long speeches, all of which cemented him in the Oscars race for me. The rest of the cast isn't exactly awards worthy, but it's full of really fun actors and performances. John Goodman is in a mostly comedic role as the President, but he definitely gets a few great laughs. The year of Sandra Huller continues, with a fun role but mostly limited screen time in this one. Jesse Plemons' character has such an interesting role in the story and he plays it out very well towards the end. Sophie Wilde was the suprise standout here for me, as she does not have a ton of screentime but totally shines in every bit she has. She's also allowed to challenge Cruise a lot and it never feels out of place in any way.
Bold Swings and Twists Throughout
This is a review where I have to be incredibly careful, as we've been informed to not give any specific spoilers about the film before the release date. This is due to one specific big twist, one that hasn't been hinted at in any of the trailers, pretty early on in the film. You basically have to shift your entire expectations for the film once you learn this and for me it really worked out for the better. Without the direction they took, this would've been an average and mostly forgettable project. However, director Alejando González Iñárritu takes so many huge swings and almost all of them landed for me. This twist allows for so many additional layers to the performances and the film itself. What you can see from the trailers is that this clearly takes a lot of digs at our current world leaders and also society's current state as a whole. Although exagerrated at times (I suppose it's meant to be), this message was definitely subtle enough to not feel too on the nose. Iñárritu's framing here is good as always, helping hold off on the twist as long as possible while also playing into it once it's revealed. The film itself looks absolutely beautiful, due to the great cinematography from regular Iñárritu collaborator Emmanuel Lubezki.
Iñárritu co-wrote this screenplay with three others: Alexander Dinelaris, Nicolás Giacobone, and Sabina Berman. For me this was one of the strongest aspects of the entire film, as the dialogue was incredibly snappy and composed even within all the craziness that's happening. I've mentioned the extended monologues a few times in this review and that's really one of the best parts of the film. The writing in each of these scenes reflects the ego and mixed emotions from our main characters. This will hopefully spark a lot of really interesting discussions on the themes presented and may even be appreciated more on a rewatch.
Directionless At Times
Although I did enjoy a lot of the narratives presented here, there were some times were this film felt like it was lost on what it wanted to say. This was truly at play around the second-third act, where you aren't exactly sure what the point is. The ending sures it up slightly, but it also feels a bit mixed on what exactly it wants to get across. This allows for some sequences that may leave you slightly bored, just because you are listening to words that aren't meaning anything in the grand scheme of things. As I said earlier, this clearly takes multiple swings at our world leaders as well as what we as a society are doing in the face of possible disaster. For the most part I did appreciate this storytelling, but there were times where it felt it was attempting to be edgy and different just for the sake of it. This is where the screenplay is at its weakest, when it leans too far into trying to tackle things in a more creative way than seen before. Jesse Plemons' character has a monologue towards the end that is mostly interesting and reveals a lot about the main twist, but I left it wondering if it actually had any clear point. Again this makes it so towards the back half it isn't really as interesting as the first hour, which may end up losing a lot of people.
Not As Funny As Advertised
One of the first taglines for this film was "a comedy of catastrophic proportions" and you can see from the promos there are ton of comedic moments. However, the film ends up not being as funny as it wants to be. There were certainly some laughs, a lot of times with the duo of Ahmed/Cruise or John Goodman, but on the whole it was pretty unfunny. In a vacuum this isn't a huge deal, but it sort of derails some scenes as it feels the main purpose is to make the audience laugh. It's another situation where I thought the first half was funnier than the second - I really appreciated the overwhelming comedy in the first 20-30 minutes. I'm not even sure the exaggerated humor was the problem, because I've enjoyed that in movies in the past, I just don't think the writers have the best comedic chops. Iñárritu himself has never done as much comedy as he does here and it may just be that he's not entirely used to it as a style. This is another thing that may make this film drag a little, with the two hour runtime maybe feeling slightly longer than it should.
Final Thoughts
On the whole, I enjoyed this film. It's great to see Cruise in such a different role and I loved the creative steps it took that haven't been shown in the teasers. It's also a film I could definitely see myself enjoying even more on a rewatch, knowing the twist going into it. However, it is hampered by some clear issues which allow me to see why this has been so divisive with critics. I am incredibly curious on what the lasting impact of this film is and how it goes awards-wise!
Rating: 3.5/5 Stars
Digger is ranked 28th out of the 75 new releases I've seen this year.
Editor's Note: I've only included the top 20 from my 2026 new releases list, for editing purposes.
2026 Ranked:
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