Digger Preview Screening Review
Photos by: Christopher Hall
On Monday the 28th of September, I was invited to an advance screening of Alejandro González Iñárritu's new film, Digger. The invitation came from Warner Bros. Pictures and Letterboxd. An email from Letterboxd Offers landed in my inbox on the 21st, and I RSVP'd straight away because it seemed like an amazing opportunity. I'm not sure how I was selected. It might be because I pay for Letterboxd (something I'll stop doing if they sell), or because Digger has been on my watchlist ever since I first heard about it, or just pure luck. Whatever the odds, I'm grateful.
The screening was held at Village Cinemas at Crown, and the place was decked out: posters everywhere, photo opportunities in front of promotional displays, and even an orange carpet to match the colours of the poster. It was all very cool. I'm sure there were quite a few media personalities in attendance, but the only one I recognised was Australian comedian Lewis Spears. On the way to our cinema, there were tables offering drinks and popcorn, and at the door we had to seal our phones in bags so no one could take photos or videos of the film. I've never had to do that at a screening before, and honestly, I think more cinemas should do it.
If you've seen any of the promotional material, you'll know that Tom Cruise stars as the title character, Digger. But Cruise is backed by a stacked supporting cast: Riz Ahmed, John Goodman, Jesse Plemons, Sandra Hüller and Emma D'Arcy.
Riz Ahmed is terrific, and his scene with Cruise on the plane is a real standout for him. John Goodman is great, as he is in just about everything, and the same goes for Jesse Plemons. Plemons' role is fairly small, and he only appears in a handful of scenes, but whenever he's on screen, he has a remarkable knack for stealing them. He's one of my favourite actors working right now, and he's brilliant in everything he does, especially Game Night.
Then there's the star of the show, and the man the whole marketing campaign is built around: Tom Cruise as Digger. Say what you want about Cruise's personal life. Personally, I have nothing but negative things to say about Scientology. But his dedication to the craft of making movies is undeniably admirable. Over more than four decades, he's put his body on the line and learnt every corner of the filmmaking process, most visibly through his stunt work in the Mission: Impossible franchise and, more recently, Top Gun: Maverick. He is a true performer, and Digger is no exception. It's a real departure from the action-heavy roles he's mostly taken on since the turn of the millennium, and he's remarkable in it. His monologue in front of the judge and the crowd, which features in some of the promotional material, is jaw-dropping, and probably the highlight of the film for me.
Digger is the third Alejandro González Iñárritu film I've seen. The first was The Revenant, the film that finally won Leonardo DiCaprio his Best Actor Oscar, and the second was 2014's Birdman, which is still my favourite of his. Birdman is a masterpiece through and through. Digger and Birdman share some common ground, as both are films about a play. You watch the characters slip in and out of being themselves and performing their roles on stage, which makes for a fascinating dynamic. It did take me a little while to get my head around, since the first 15 to 20 minutes of Digger are the play itself. It wasn't confusing exactly, just something to keep in mind as you settle in.
Beyond the story itself, the whole film feels like a play, just as Birdman does. The cinematography, the direction and the heightened, slightly over-the-top performances all give it a theatrical quality that I really enjoy, and it's no coincidence that both films were shot by Emmanuel Lubezki, who won an Oscar for his work on Birdman. It's one of my favourite things about both films.
Digger hits Australian cinemas on the 1st of October, and I'd definitely recommend seeing it on the big screen if you can. Honestly, I'd recommend that for every film, but it feels especially worth saying these days, when so many people just wait for things to land on streaming.
