A $130m cult movie - that feels like the best Tom Cruise can hope for with Digger.
Heralded as his pivot to meatier acting after the stunt-obsessed outings of the past 20 years, this eco-satire will be a polarising watch for those who see it in Cruise's preferred venue, the cinema, but there should be no argument that it contains one of the best scenes of his career.
Watch: Digger director Alejandro González Iñárritu tells RTÉ 2FM's Emma Power that Tom Cruise is playing "an adorable catastrophe" in the new eco-satire
The story begins as oil baron Digger Rockwell (Cruise) wakes in his Xanadu-like mansion to the news that his reckless drilling in Greenland is about to trigger a reckoning of Biblical proportions. Worse still, Digger's beloved cat Maggie isn't well. Cranking up the chaos with shouting and people arriving and departing through various doors, this is all played for doom-laden laughs as Cruise - comb-over, prosthetic pot belly, and builder's arse - dials it up to show-me-the-money levels and beyond.
After about half an hour, Digger pulls the polar bear rug from under the audience, and the viewer's reaction to this audacious twist will determine if they sit through the rest. Any immediate walkouts, however, will miss a monologue guaranteed to feature in all retrospectives of Cruise's career, and that points the finger as much at us as it does the politicians who watch on as the full-blast tycoon tells them what's what.
Digger's biggest failing is the absence of an emotional bond with almost everyone on screen. As ever, you can't fault Cruise's commitment to the character - you almost forget you're watching him - but your investment in Digger Rockwell and co wanes considerably as things unfold. Sandra Hüller is tasked with brush strokes as Digger's overwrought half-sister; John Goodman's bellowing US president is briefly entertaining, and Riz Ahmed, as the I-did-warn-you conscience of the film, frustratingly fades into the background. Speaking to Reuters at Digger's premiere in London last week, another of Cruise's co-stars, Michael Stuhlbarg, said new dialogue, alternative versions, and unexpected additions appeared from day to day. You get that sense as a viewer.
After the outdoor challenge of The Revenant and Birdman's one long take, Digger continues Alejandro González Iñárritu's love of high-wire directing. It is also a missed opportunity to have a better film within a conventional narrative. Technically, there is much to admire in a disaster movie that is not in itself a disaster. Behind-the-scenes Oscar nominations would appear to be a formality.
Watch: Riz Ahmed and Michael Stuhlbarg tell 2FM's Emma Power about the making of Digger
As for Cruise making the Best Actor shortlist, that could well depend on damage limitation at the box office. It's hard to see people making a beeline for this one. Can a big-budget studio offering survive a commercial mauling and still make a nominee out of its leading man? We shall see come January.
Amidst our quest for novelty, distraction, and more stuff that we don't need, there are bigger things to worry about than Cruise's mantelpiece, mind. Digger points this out, albeit not with the impact that the assembled talent would suggest.
