Title: Digger
Describe This Movie Using One Simpsons Quote:
RICH TEXAN: Yee haw! I’m overcompensatin’!
Brief Plot Synopsis: Using fossil fuels as the basis of our economy was a bad thing. Who knew?
Rating Using Random Objects Relevant To The Film: 3.5 Exxon Valdezes out of 5.
Tagline: “A comedy of catastrophic proportions.”
Better Tagline: “Tom Cruise finally looks like an actual 64-year old.”
Not So Brief Plot Synopsis: Digger Rockwell (Tom Cruise) isn’t your average oil billionaire. Sure, he’s got all the asshole trappings (big game trophies, poorly treated staff, dumb hat), but he might be the first to suffer consequences for decades of assaulting the environment. One of his drilling sites just caused a section of Greenland’s ice sheet to separate. Nicknamed “Judy” and roughly eight times the size of Washington, DC, the broken section heads straight for Europe. Digger is summoned by President Compson (John Goodman) to suggest how disaster may be averted. Or barring that, how they can possibly blame someone else.
“Critical” Analysis: Tom Cruise has never won an Oscar.
Not a “real” one anyway. The Academy presented him with an Honorary Award in 2025, by no less than Digger director Alejandro Iñárritu himself. The award was for Cruise’s “incredible commitment to our filmmaking and stunts community as well as to the theatrical experience.” It’s not quite “consolation prize” level (as when they gave it 17-time nominee Diane Warren), but not exactly validation.
Cruise’s best Best Actor chances were for Born on the Fourth of July, playing disabled veteran Ron Kovic, and Jerry Maguire. He was also nominated for Best Supporting Actor for Magnolia. And if we’re being completely honest, he deserved a Fish Called Wanda Kevin Kline-style nom for Tropic Thunder.*
If any director can get him over that hump, it’s Alejandro Iñárritu. The director of Amores perros and Babel already got Leonardo diCaprio over the hump, after all. And unlike The Revenant, Digger leans heavily on the contemporary black comedy that made Birdman a success. Also like that movie, Digger is going to seriously divide critics and audiences.
If it feels like I’m talking more about Cruise’s award chances than the movie itself, it’s because there’s only so much detail I can go into. Digger’s premise — a billionaire oil baron tries to undo a cataclysm of his own making — isn’t complicated. The framing device Iñárritu utilizes, on the other hand. My initial reaction? The hell? The “twist,” which comes at the end of the first act, is what’s going to initially separate the pro- and anti-Digger camps.
That split will also be enhanced/aggravated by Cruise himself. You can criticize the man for his weird cult, bro energy, or android-esque personality (and be right to do so). But as Digger Rockwell, does his best “acting” (not involving stunt work) since, well, probably those movies we were talking about early (see also: Magnolia). Digger is a buffoon, sure, but he’s also crafty. Cruise shows us a man who’ll not only do whatever it takes to save his own skin, but also vehemently believes his own bullshit. His pro-oil speech before some European commission or other wouldn’t sound out of place coming out of Billy Bob Thornton’s mouth in Landman.
Not that it always works. Cruise’s vibe doesn’t easily translate to comedy, and Digger’s more audacious scenes veer close to obnoxiousness. He’s better when reacting to others’ overacting, or in scenes when he’s waiting for news on … well, I won’t go into it. The rest of the cast – Sandra Hüller as Digger’s sister half-sister Emma, Michael Stuhlbarg as the Vice President, Riz Ahmed as a beleaguered scientist — have their own farcical moments. The results are, again, broad. You can lean into it or not.
This being Iñárritu, Digger showcases the director’s self-indulgent tendencies. Lots of unbroken takes and over-the-top monologues to remind us this is Important Stuff. The broad parody of the industry and government (ours) he’s lampooning doesn’t always land, but taken as a whole, there’s a lot to chew on her.
Digger is audacious, visually striking, and relevant. Iñárritu takes a big swing, and how well it connects might very well depend on your view of his work (and Cruise’s) in general. Because it’s also pretentious, obvious, and often up its own ass. This might hit one of those rare movie quinellas where it both craters at the box office and earns an “F” CinemaScore. It might also land Cruise his first real Oscar.
*In terms of sheer audacity, he could’ve gotten nominated for playing Jack Reacher.
Digger is in theaters today.
