Tom Cruise is not making a serious movie. That’s the twist. Digger looks like an Oscar play. It’s directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu. It’s a drama about an oil tycoon. It’s got a cast full of prestige actors. But it’s not a serious movie. It’s a satire. It’s a dark comedy. It’s Iñárritu doing his best Dr. Strangelove impression.
Tom Cruise Digger stars Cruise as Digger Rockwell, a man who believes he’s the only person who can fix the world. He’s wrong. He’s dangerously wrong. The film is about what happens when a powerful idiot decides to save everyone. It’s about environmental disaster. It’s about greed. It’s about the end of the world. It’s funny. That’s the part people are missing.
The reviews have been mixed. Some critics get it. Some don’t. The box office has been rough. Digger was supposed to open to $20 million. It opened to $8 million. That’s a bomb. A $180 million bomb. Tom Cruise Digger is not a hit. It’s a fascinating failure. That’s more interesting than a hit.
Cruise is proud of it. He said so on X. He said he’s honored to have made it. That’s a nice sentiment. It’s also what you say when your movie flops. Tom Cruise Digger is not the movie Cruise needed. It’s the movie he wanted to make. That’s rare for a movie star. He could have made Mission: Impossible 9. He made this instead. Respect.
Iñárritu hasn’t made a movie in years. His last one was The Revenant. He’s been doing Bardo and other projects. Tom Cruise Digger is his return to English-language filmmaking. It’s a big swing. It’s a miss. But it’s a swing. That’s more than most directors get to do.
The film is in theaters now. It’s going to be gone in a few weeks. It’s going to be a cult classic in a few years. That’s how these things work. Tom Cruise Digger is not for everyone. It’s for people who like their satire mean and their movie stars confused. If that’s you, go see it. If it’s not, wait for Days of Thunder 2.
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