Entertainment · Tom Cruise film Digger: reviews and press
Cruise and Iñárritu discuss their satire 'Digger' ahead of its 2 October release
Tom Cruise and director Alejandro G. Iñárritu spoke about the Warner Bros. comedy 'Digger' at an Academy Museum screening, and Iñárritu gave a separate interview on its making. The film opens on October 2.
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The story, neutrally told
Tom Cruise and director Alejandro G. Iñárritu discussed their film Digger with a full house at the Academy Museum's David Geffen Theater after a screening. The Hollywood ReporterLC “Tom Cruise told a full house at the Academy Museum’s 945-seat David Geffen Theater following a screening of Digger.” Read at The Hollywood Reporter ↗ Cruise plays a Texas oil tycoon, Digger Rockwell, who must face the consequences of an environmental disaster. The Hollywood ReporterLC “Cruise plays a Texas oil tycoon forced to face the music after an environmental disaster puts the world at risk.” Read at The Hollywood Reporter ↗ IndieWireLC “Cruise’s character, Digger Rockwell” Read at IndieWire ↗ Both outlets report a budget of $125 million; the Hollywood Reporter calls it a reported figure, and IndieWire says Warner Bros. and Legendary backed the film at that level. The Hollywood ReporterLC “carries a reported $125 million production budget” Read at The Hollywood Reporter ↗ IndieWireLC “Warner Bros. and Legendary took a leap of faith and backed the movie to the tune of $125 million.” Read at IndieWire ↗
Iñárritu told the Academy Museum audience that finding the film's tone was hard, recalling that scenes that seemed funny on set could look wrong in the dailies. The Hollywood ReporterLC ““This is not working. This is shit.”” Read at The Hollywood Reporter ↗ Cruise said the film is "handmade" and that "people want real things". The Hollywood Reporter's writer heard this as a possible implicit response to artificial intelligence, although Cruise never mentioned it. The Hollywood ReporterLC “Cruise never mentioned artificial intelligence” Read at The Hollywood Reporter ↗ In an interview with IndieWire, Iñárritu said the project took nearly a decade and collapsed three times before it was financed. IndieWireLC “the production collapsed three times” Read at IndieWire ↗
He said current events had caught up with the story, saying "We are living in a satire". IndieWireLC ““We are living in a satire,” Iñárritu said.” Read at IndieWire ↗ Co-star Riz Ahmed praised Cruise's precision, comparing it to that of a stuntman. IndieWireLC ““Tom is meticulous — he has the precision of a stuntman,” Ahmed said.” Read at IndieWire ↗ The Hollywood ReporterLC “Iñárritu compared the precision of Cruise’s acting to the “micro decisions” he makes during a dangerous stunt” Read at The Hollywood Reporter ↗ Critics have split on the film. The Hollywood Reporter says reviews have been "wildly divisive", and that its own review was among the negative ones, though its writer was glad to have seen it. The Hollywood ReporterLC “Among critics, the film has proved wildly divisive, with some reviews positively savage, The Hollywood Reporter’s among them.” Read at The Hollywood Reporter ↗
IndieWire says a twist about a third of the way through the film is being kept secret, and that the film opens in theaters on October 2 from Warner Bros. Pictures. IndieWireLC ““Digger” opens in theaters on October 2 from Warner Bros. Pictures.” Read at IndieWire ↗
Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on.
Left2 outlets
- Framing
- Both outlets treat the film as a bold, risky bet. The Hollywood Reporter covers the Academy Museum event and adds critical context, while IndieWire runs a promotional interview centred on the film's satire and its secret twist.
- Emphasis
- Risk, Cruise's transformation and craft, and Iñárritu's candour about the film's tone and its long path to production.
- Leaves out or plays down
- IndieWire does not mention the mixed reviews. Neither outlet gives box-office projections or critical voices beyond its own.
- Charged language
- “Riskiest Business Yet”“wildly ambitious, deeply weird”“demented reality”“positively savage”
- For example
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“Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s wildly ambitious, deeply weird and extravagantly mounted comedy” — The Hollywood Reporter
“a savage and surreal social satire produced on the scale of a studio blockbuster” — IndieWire
Centre0 outlets
No centre outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.
Right0 outlets
No right outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.
What every side reports
- Digger stars Tom Cruise as an oil tycoon and is directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu.
- The Warner Bros. film has a budget of about $125 million.
- The film opens in theaters on October 2.
- Both outlets describe it as a risky, offbeat project.
Where accounts differ
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How the film is being received
- Left
- The Hollywood Reporter says critics are divided and calls its own review savage. IndieWire calls it a 'savage and surreal social satire' and one of the year's biggest commercial risks, and does not discuss reviews.
Tom Cruise person
Cruise presents the film as handmade, says audiences want real experiences, and hopes it does well enough for him to keep making such films.
““People want real things and they want real experiences.”” — The Hollywood Reporter
Alejandro González Iñárritu person
Iñárritu describes a hard search for the right tone and a long road to financing, and says the film is about shared complicity, not a political message.
““I’m not interested in pointing fingers or reducing the film to a political commentary or a right or left thing,”” — IndieWire
Left2 articles
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With ‘Digger,’ Tom Cruise Takes On His Riskiest Business Yet
Mixed An event report that pairs Cruise's and Iñárritu's remarks with the writer's own view that the film is divisive but worth seeing.
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Sympathetic An interview presenting Digger as a timely satire, with praise for Cruise's transformation and for the studios that backed it.
Centre0 articles
No coverage yet.
Right0 articles
No coverage yet.
- 30 Sep 07:47 First The Hollywood ReporterLC With ‘Digger,’ Tom Cruise Takes On His Riskiest Business Yet
- 30 Sep 13:30 +5h 42m IndieWireLC ‘Digger’ Director Alejandro G. Iñárritu and Riz Ahmed on How the Year’s Riskiest Movie Captures Our Demented Reality: ‘We Are Living in a Satire’
Times are when each article was published, or when we first saw it if the outlet gave no time.