Here_Comes_Everybody

Tom Cruise is impossibly great in Digger (🌟🌟🌟🌟). How did Cruise do this? Where did this come from? How could he have been better? To those who don’t see the brilliance of Digger: I don’t understand you. We don’t speak the same language. We’re not from the same planet. I don’t know what film you just watched. Because what I just witnessed was a stunning performance from one of the biggest movie stars in the history of Hollywood. Standing shoulder to shoulder, Alejandro Iñárritu & Cruise just showed the world what it means to be a fearless artist. I walked out of the theater in total awe. Digger is one of the best films of 2026.  Cinema is a visual art form. Before we had sound, we had picture. As Francis Ford Coppola once said, the “shot” in Cinema is the basic unit of visual language, the same way the sentence is the basic unit in literature. All of which is to say that you can never undervalue the power of a film’s cinematography. Here, in Digger, three time Academy Award-winner Emmanuel “Chivo” Lubezki returns to Cinema for the first time in four years.  I say all of this at the outset of my review because I think every last shot in this film- every last frame - is a work of art. Perhaps we’ve lost sight of the “basic unit” of visual language in Cinema - perhaps we’ve underrated its value. But this film’s cinematography was like a cold bucket of water: it reminded me of the power of the shot. That’s in large part because of the 35 mm VistaVision format Chivo uses. There is so much Birdman DNA in this film & I couldn’t get enough. What’s more is the saturated colors & muted palette are strong creative choices that I think fit so well with this film’s camera work & pushes the story forward. I just can’t stress enough that the filmmaking in this movie is brilliant & in lockstep with the actual plot.  Chivo & Iñárritu introduce us to Tom Cruise as Digger Rockwell at a time when Rockwell learns that a block of ice is starting to part in Greenland from all the oil Rockwell is drilling. The incessant oil drilling results in a massive glacier called Judy that heads toward Europe. The whole idea here - without giving any spoilers away or any major plot twists, as is the Cinema Tweets guarantee, is that John Goodman’s President Compson is forced to handle the natural disaster with Digger at the helm. Riz Ahmed plays a scientist named Dr. Ganesh who constantly reminds President Compson & Digger of the unavoidable danger they’ve caused & Sandra Hüller slips in as Rockwell’s half sister Emma. This sets the stage for a 2 hour disaster satire that pulls heavily from Dr. Strangelove…and then some (massive plot twists!!).  The social commentary is obvious & unavoidable but I never felt like it reached the point of obnoxious. I found the script/dialogue to be engaging, prescient and exceptionally relevant. But there’s so much more to the story here beyond just the obvious climate-change narrative & the criticism of the Boomer leaders in charge who’ve 1) caused it and 2) escaped all consequence. Such is the sub-plot that interested me most, the consequences Digger is forced to face as a result of his negligence. Is he actually responsible? Was it his fault or society’s at large? I think this film doesn’t just point the finger - it asks questions that need to be raised.  I can’t go any further without talking about this ensemble. Every. Last. Actor. Crushes. I found this to be an instantly iconic & endearing performance from John Goodman. Goodman knocks this out of the park & steals a number of scenes. Then there’s Plemons, who throws a few innings of no-hit baseball in the final act. Toss in the fact that Michael Stuhlbarg is fucking excellent & Riz Ahmed & Hüller also crush? I really can’t remember the last time I saw an ensemble collectively swing for the fences like this & connect - together. Everyone here understood the assignment.  But none more than Cruise. At day’s end, that’s what this film is about - Tom fucking Cruise.