Tom Cruise Bombs an Iceberg in Dizzying New ‘Digger’ Trailer

If there’s anyone who knows about controlling the narrative, it’s Tom Cruise. Is he always successful at it? Absolutely not! The man is one of the most famous members of a cult-like church that claims it is neither (yet behaves like both). He thought leading with that was a good idea for years and then had to pivot when he became so toxic he couldn’t get a Guillermo Del Toro movie made, even though James Cameron was helping the pair pitch it. Then he pivoted to death-defying action star status, and even that ran its course a couple of years ago.

So, Cruise is changing things up again, and this time, he’s got makeup! The Risky Business star is appearing in the new Alejandro G. Iñárritu film Digger as the titular character, Digger Rockwell. Much of the film has been shrouded in secrecy. What we’ve mostly known is that it would be a comedy and that Cruise would be changing up his look for it. Now, we’ve got a new trailer that gives us our first full look at the film, and they honestly might have been underselling the comedic aspect.

The first thing that stands out in the trailer (save for Cruise’s look, which is less radical than I expected) is the artful nature in which the film seems to be made. There is plenty of creative staging and over-the-top characters. The surrealist vibe verges into Dr. Strangelove territory several times, especially with John Goodman’s President of the United States (the cast of this thing is stacked). It looks like a very heightened look at climate change and the small group of people who control all of our fates. I wonder if Iñárritu will scold us if we don’t watch it…

To say this movie looks like Oscar bait would be an understatement, but it’s the kind that I can get behind. It has the grandious nature of a big budget studio picture, but also the odd nature of a small indie film. Cruise looks like he’s stretching muscles he hasn’t used in years (and that won’t find him hanging off the side of a plane). Goodman is hilarious and could finally be on his way to a long-deserved Oscar nomination. It’s all very exciting!

It also should be noted that this year has been jam-packed with new offerings from established directors, and this continues that trend. Iñárritu is a special talent, and seeing him get to do another film of this scale with such a big movie star is more than enticing, as he’s been able to lead established stars into some career performances. Yes, Leo should have gotten his Oscar for The Wolf of Wall Street, but at least he got it.