Digger review – 5/10

Tom Cruise is brave. Over four decades, he’s been Hollywood’s leading “Leading Man,” a uniquely charming, muscular and sincere screen presence.

One could be excused for forgetting Cruise’s history with non-blockbuster cinema. Since the late 2000s, the actor has shied away from more demanding roles like Frank T.J. Mackey in Magnolia or Jerry Maguire in Jerry Maguire. Instead, he opted for the wildly entertaining and profitable action franchise Mission: Impossible.

Digger, directed by Alejandro Gonzáles Iñárritu, is Cruise’s return to being a serious actor in the form of Digger Rockwell.

Rockwell is an elderly oil tycoon decked out in cowboy hats and bolo ties with the American president on speed dial. His capitalist ambitions directly lead to an environmental catastrophe that threatens to destroy the entire world. 

Digger’s politics are astute and timely. Future generations will face consequences for the selfishness of a few rich white men, and it doesn’t seem like anyone can do anything about it.  

The self-satisfaction that permeates Digger is irritating. The problem with the film isn’t that its worldview is incorrect, but that it’s painfully obvious. Gonzáles Iñárritu’s screenplay is so concerned with being correct that it forgets to be interesting. 

You can only nod your head at a movie’s politics for so long before you get a headache. 

Maybe that is the point. Maybe political art is often annoying and ultimately paralyzing. Digger eventually floats this idea, but loses all momentum doing so. Can one satirize satire? Maybe, but at least in Digger’s case, not without compromising both layers.

Cruise delivers a crucial monologue about halfway through the film. In a thick Texan drawl, he appeals to the world, insisting his enterprise keeps everyone else afloat, and that deep down, they all want him to “keep digging.”

It’s a stunning showcase of his talent. Whatever the success of the film itself may be, Cruise is electric. After all these years, he’s still got it.

Digger is clever — impressive, even. It’s also cowardly, intent on shielding itself from criticism, as if Gonzáles Iñárritu anticipates the social media fallout its release will trigger. Digger needs Cruise, but an actor as brave as Cruise doesn’t need Digger.

Digger is available in theatres everywhere.

Yi Yi review – 9/10 

Yi Yi is a Taiwanese film written and directed by Edward Yang. It was released in theatres in 2000, a fitting year for its themes of modernity and self-interest. Although 2000 was a shiny number promising a new horizon at the time, 2001 is technically the first of the next millennium.

The film follows the Jian family as they navigate a future that may not have room for them. With a master’s touch, Yang threads each family member’s stories into a larger narrative mosaic. 

For the father, N.J. (Wu Nien-Jen), the future is the next quarterly report at his struggling computer company. He desperately tries to keep his job as his marriage to his wife Min-Min (Elaine Jin Yan-Ling) slowly crumbles.

For N.J.’s daughter, Ting-Ting (Kelly Lee), the future is her new cooler friend Lili (Meng-chin ‘Adriene’ Lin). Ting-Ting wants to be more like Lili, warts and all. This wish comes true when she becomes entangled with Lili’s estranged, unstable boyfriend, Fatty (Chang Yu Pang). 

For N.J.’s young son, Yang-Yang (Jonathan Chang), the future is his camera. He delights in photographing the back of people’s heads because, without a camera, he “can only know half the truth.” It’s his way to fill in the blanks in the world around him.

Yi Yi has many virtues. The performances are all textured. The editing is propulsive. The film is beautifully shot, lit and composed.

But none of these qualities are more impressive than Yang’s command of tone. Yi Yi has a deadpan sensibility throughout, but every so often it opens up a bit, giving the viewers moments of catharsis. 

These moments are few and far between but strategically placed. There’s never a real threat of being numbed by the film’s gloom and irony. 

Ultimately, Yi Yi is a film about selfishness. All of the members of the Jian family are selfish. They put aside the needs of those around them in a quest for their ideal futures. That future is always approaching but never quite here.

The film only covers a single year, but we could watch the Jians for another decade. Everything would change about them, but they would desire to change in the same tired way.

Yi Yi is available to stream on the Criterion Channel.