The Daily Mail, Brian Viner
Rating: Four stars
I have now seen Digger twice, and the film worked considerably better for me the second time, once I knew where its twists were heading.
On my first viewing, I thought it became ensnared in its own elaborate premise and stylistic flourishes, leaving it not only confusing but also rather self-indulgent.
Even so, this is daring and frequently brilliant filmmaking. The Oscar talk surrounding Inarritu, Cruise and Goodman feels justified, while Ahmed, Sandra Huller and Jesse Plemons deliver superb supporting performances — as does an animatronic cat.
BBC, Nicholas Barber
Rating: Four stars
I loved it. Some of the film’s extravagance goes a little too far, however, and most audiences will probably wish it had been trimmed.
After roughly 90 minutes, even the sight of Goodman shouting as snake-like veins rise across his forehead begins to wear thin.
Still, I could not help smiling as Cruise scrambled around the set, delivering booming sermons about the oil industry. The sheer scale of his performance, the script’s forceful environmental warning and Iñárritu’s wildly energetic direction are hard to resist.
The Telegraph, Robbie Collin
Rating: Four stars
Digger remains in a state of constant uncertainty. I am not convinced that its internal argument about art’s inability to confront catastrophe is one the film can — or even wishes to — settle.
But watching Iñárritu and Cruise wrestle with that question is exhilarating, particularly when they do so with such visual beauty, boldness and excess.
The Los Angeles Times, Amy Nicholson
Tom Cruise has dangled from cliffs, skyscrapers and aircraft, but playing oil tycoon Digger Rockwell may be his most hazardous role in years.
‘Without special effects or stunts, the veteran star [Tom Cruise] holds your attention throughout, grandstanding in a way that feels like an Oscar moment both in its intention and its impact.’
The Guardian, Peter Bradshaw
Rating: Two stars
‘As with Adam McKay’s Don’t Look Up, there may be a tacit consensus, understandable at some level, that at least we have a big mainstream movie which is talking about the biggest issue of our time, and we have a duty to suspend critical objection.
‘Digger certainly resonates with Donald Trump’s greedy urge to despoil the Arctic and everywhere else. Yet there is something glib and overblown here. This film finds itself in a postmodern hole. And what do you do when you’re in a hole?’
The Times, Kevin Maher
Rating: One star
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‘There surely exists an alternate movie universe where Digger is played by an actual ”older” actor, say Dustin Hoffman or Ben Kingsley, and in that universe that film is certainly more effective than this one.
‘Cruise, instead, is in the unenviable position of being Digger’s sole selling point and its fatal flaw.’
Empire, Olly Richards
Rating: Two stars
‘Digger is a bumptious blowhard… Cruise emerges with a win, reminding us how riveting he can be as an actor, not just as a movie star.
‘A role so oversized and absurd demands fearless commitment, which he certainly gives. The big swing is laudable. If only the film were more rewarding.’
Variety, Owen Gleiberman
‘I’m not sure that ‘Digger’ is going to connect, because it’s so full of itself — so top-heavy with importance.
‘The movie cost north of $125 million to make, and that figure is not only too big to probably justify itself; it’s a testament to the arrogance of the filmmakers – to the assumption that we’ll turn out in droves for this ponderous absurdist lecture.’
The Hollywood Reporter, David Rooney
‘I was reminded of colossal misfires like Damien Chazelle’s Babylon and David O. Russell’s Amsterdam, bloated movies by directors so drunk on their exalted reputations they forgot there was an audience to consider.’
Digger is a ‘turgid, unfunny, and borderline unwatchable 128 minute mess’.
‘[Digger] forgets the statement must still work as anything more than a self-flagellating valediction from a movie star.’
The Wrap, William Bibianni
‘Digger is what happens when you give the week’s worst Saturday Night Live sketch an inexplicably large budget and delusions of grandeur.’
The New York Post, Johnny Oleksinski
‘The trouble with Iñárritu’s pretentious frame story (sorry to be so vague) is that it causes us to not take about 90% of the movie seriously and to zone out for long stretches.
‘There are no stakes to be found and no laughs to be had. There’s certainly no point.’
The Independent, Clarisse Loughrey
Rating: Two stars
‘As much as Digger has been sold on the promise that Cruise here is a revelation, there’s no real inversion to speak of, merely a return to the kind of work he did (over two decades ago!) before his blockbuster action streak.
‘Even his latex makeover seems reminiscent of his paunchy, balding Les Grossman in Tropic Thunder.’
Indiewire, David Ehrlic
‘The reason why Digger is a nobler and more rewarding failure than Birdman or Bardo is because it doesn’t have to pretend that Digger Rockwell is a real person.
‘He’s a living cartoon who’s exempted from the human foundation that was missing from those earlier films, and — for all of this movie’s psych-outs and detours — that allows Iñárritu to address his existential crises with a greater directness and degree of relatability.’