Digger movie review: Tom Cruise as an oil tycoon digs up a wild environmental satire with Riz Ahmed's truth bombs

Digger movie review (Pictures via special arrangement)

Over the years, Tom Cruise has been synonymous to the action packed films, everytime you see him onscreen, its all about the stunts, jumps from high-rise buildings and more. Digger on the other hand reverses his presence onscreen. Tom Cruise plays a paunchy, ageing oil billionaire with thinning hair, a booming Southern accent and enough ego to believe that even an environmental catastrophe can be solved if he is the one holding the shovel.

Directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Digger strikes a chord with its deceptively simple premise. Digger Rockwell's drilling operation in the Arctic triggers an ecological disaster when a gigantic chunk of ice breaks away and threatens catastrophic consequences. His scientist, Ganesh played by Riz Ahmed, has been constantly warning him about the dangers, but Digger isn't quite interested in any kind of accountability. His instinct is to take charge, control the narrative and, naturally, position himself as the man capable of fixing the mess.

That's exactly where the film finds its funniest contradiction. Digger is ambitious of being the hero for the disaster that he created. Cruise completely embraces the ridiculousness of it. His physical transformation is exactly what the character requires, but it is his performance that keeps the character from becoming a one-note caricature. Digger Rockwell is a man who is loud, arrogant and deeply convinced of his own importance. Cruise plays him with such commitment that the character becomes an exaggerated extension of the actor's own larger-than-life screen persona.

The film's supporting cast adds to this grand madness. Riz Ahmed brings a nervous, grounded energy as the scientist attempting to make Digger understand the scale of the crisis, while John Goodman leans into the film's political absurdity. Sandra Huller and Jesse Plemons fail to get a chance to prove their prowess in this male dominant world created by Alejandro.

Digger is loud, surreal and deliberately excessive. Emmanuel Lubezki's cinematography gives the film an imposing scale, while the production design turns Digger's world into a visual representation of wealth, excess and paranoia. And yet, this excess is also its biggest weakness. The satire keeps making an obvious appearance rather than letting the viewers discover it. The scenes constantly seem to be stretched, performances keep getting pushed while the ideas are repeated until some of its humour begins to disappear under the weight of the film's own ambition.

Digger's world isn't dull at all, the film's unpredictable behaviour is the biggest appeal, right when the viewer feels the narrative has finally settled, another disaster awaits. The narrative keeps making constant jump cuts between the expected and unexpected, which prevents Digger from being predictable. What works in the film's favour is its central idea of what happens when the one responsible for the disaster insists on becoming the face of the solution?. Digger sees himself as an opportunist who has money, influence and determination to save everyone else, but never a villain in his own story.

Digger isn't a controlled film. Parts of it are messy, overstuffed and occasionally overpowered with its own cleverness. But there is something refreshing about a major Hollywood film willing to be this bizarre. And Cruise, by stepping so far away from his familiar action-hero image, gives the film its most unpredictable element. You might not agree with Digger's ideology but you simple can't ignore it either.