Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Digger comes out next week. This week was the first premiere, in London, with all of the royal glitz and glamour. This week was also the first time film critics got a look at Digger, and their review-embargo has been lifted. The reactions to the film are what I would expect, given what we could see from the trailer: a high-concept film featuring a nonsensical screenplay and a movie star wearing unnecessary prosthetics. Variety did a breakdown of the critical reception for the film:

Tom Cruise‘s star vehicle “Digger” has finally been unveiled to members of the film press, who have been left divided by the satirical black comedy. The latest directorial effort from “Birdman” and “The Revenant” Oscar winner Alejandro González Iñárritu is being called everything from “baffling” to “unpleasant” to “fascinating stuff.” Most film journalists seem to agree on one thing: “Digger” is like nothing you’re expecting.

“This is Tom Cruise’s most dynamic and interesting role in years,” writes Next Best Picture founder Matt Neglia. “It provides him plenty of space to preach to the back row but not enough to dig deeper and deliver a performance that could’ve had far more power and nuance had Alejandro González Iñárritu’s ambitious narrative not been so imbalanced in favor of its zany but empty theatrics.”

Variety’s awards pundit Clayton Davis adds: “I respect the swing and what Alejandro González Iñárritu is going for. Tom Cruise and John Goodman are delivering stellar work, and the production design and cinematography are impressive. In the end, not all the dots connect, and I wish the film leaned harder into the absurdity and satire it kept reaching for. Shocker! The divide on this one is going to be wide.”

Awards Radar’s Joey Magidson called the movie a “mess,” claiming that “not a whole lot works here” and “this wasn’t enjoyable,” while critic Edward Douglas added: “I cannot say that ‘Digger’ is very good, although I could tell what Iñarritu and Cruise were going for… I expect a HORRENDOUS CinemaScore.” A similar opinion was shared by journalist Mike Ryan, who called the movie “unpleasant.”

IndieWire’s Jim Hemphill was more positive, writing the movie “not only showcases Tom Cruise’s best performance since ‘Magnolia,’ it’s one of the most visually inventive, conceptually audacious, and unpredictable studio movies ever made. Takes so many bold aesthetic swings it makes ‘Bardo’ look like an episode of ‘The Golden Girls.’”

Anne Thompson of IndieWire was also high on the movie, calling it “a brave and gorgeous art film that will not score with mainstream audiences but will play best for the Academy, especially crafts and actors.”

“Digger” stars Cruise as Digger Rockwell, a wealthy tycoon who must save the world when one of his oil rigs malfunctions and causes an environmental catastrophe across the planet. The film’s supporting cast includes Riz Ahmed, John Goodman, Sandra Hüller, Michael Stuhlbarg and Jesse Plemons.

[From Variety]

What I’m getting is “this movie has HUGE tone problems.” It’s supposedly about a cataclysmic man-made event but the event is entirely played for laughs, and played as an exhibition for Tom Cruise’s gonzo performance. It’s not that I think that the film is a disaster or that audiences will flatly hate it, but I do think that these reviews are basically an admission that Digger was made for the awards season and nothing else. Even just watching the trailers, I was like “who is this for? What’s the audience for this?”

Screencaps courtesy of ‘Digger’ trailers, additional photos courtesy of Backgrid and Cover Images.