Allow me to rip the Band-Aid off right away. Is Digger worth seeing? To me, it’s a very solid yes. Is it the best movie ever made? That is a very solid no, but that’s fine. The critical reception to this is decidedly mixed, and it’s no shock why, but it’s impossible to talk about that without spoiling the entire premise of the movie. With that in mind, I will be spoiling Digger, so you have been warned.
TOM CRUISE IS DIGGER.
If you were like me, this is probably the only thing you knew about this film before entering the theatre. My first introduction to the marketing was inside a theatre while waiting for another movie to start. After sitting through a couple of trailers that I don’t remember, there it was—it started slowly, but clip after clip, it grew into more than just a greatest-hits compilation. A celebration of greatness, a shrine to one man: Cruise. Then, a shovel. Tom Cruise IS Digger.
The whole point of this trailer, if you haven’t noticed, is that Tom Cruise is playing a character named Digger. This movie, more so than any other I’ve ever seen, really wants you to internalize that an actor is doing the action of acting. This begins to make sense once you realize that Tom Cruise is NOT, in fact, Digger.
The main premise of the entire movie is that it is a play within a movie. The wacky satire of an oil tycoon destroying the planet’s ecosystem, presented in trailers, is actually a play set in the real-world aftermath of the events depicted therein. Tom Cruise plays an actor, Curtis Markson, who himself plays a satirized version of Digger Rockwell in the 25th anniversary of the play.
In the context of the story, Curtis Markson is a very prestigious actor taking on a role that is quite unusual for him. Tom Cruise is a very prestigious actor taking on a role that is quite unusual for him. Curtis Markson is Digger. Tom Cruise is Digger. I am going insane.
I feel like sitting with this in my head for so long is turning me into one of the insane characters in Fossil Fools, the fictional play in the film. My reality is crumbling around me as the absurdity of this marketing scheme claws deeper and deeper into my psyche. Was this secretly genius? Is the general public too stupid to get it? Who is Digger? Am I supposed to care? Maybe I am Digger.
Marketing aside, if you can get behind the premise, then this movie is a good watch. I found it very entertaining, with a very transformative performance from Cruise. Sometimes the satire gets a little too out there, but I would argue that’s the point, and if you are okay with that, then it’s a movie for you. A deep meditation on the role of art in a crumbling world: can it truly offer us anything, or is it just a shallow distraction from our own failures? Oh, and don’t forget:
Tom Cruise is Digger.
4/5 stars.
