Digger First Reactions: Tom Cruise Film Splits Critics

First reactions to Alejandro González Iñárritu's satirical black comedy range from career-best praise for Cruise to warnings of a horrendous CinemaScore.

The embargo lifted this week, and the split was immediate. "Digger," Tom Cruise's first real dramatic swing in over a decade, has left the film press arguing about whether it's a triumph or a trainwreck, sometimes within the same review.

Directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, the man behind "Birdman" and "The Revenant," the film casts Cruise as Digger Rockwell, a tycoon forced to clean up after one of his oil rigs sets off a global environmental disaster. Riz Ahmed, John Goodman, Sandra Hüller, Michael Stuhlbarg and Jesse Plemons round out the cast.

On the positive end, IndieWire's Jim Hemphill called it Cruise's best work "since 'Magnolia,'" and said it ranks among the boldest studio films ever made, sharper even than Iñárritu's own "Bardo." IndieWire's Anne Thompson went further, describing it as "a brave and gorgeous art film that will not score with mainstream audiences but will play best for the Academy."

Then there's the other side. Awards Radar's Joey Magidson flatly called it a mess, writing that "not a whole lot works here." Critic Edward Douglas said he understood what Iñárritu and Cruise were going for but predicted a "HORRENDOUS CinemaScore." Journalist Mike Ryan used one word: unpleasant.

Even the more measured takes read like arguments with themselves. Variety's Clayton Davis praised Cruise and Goodman for "stellar work" and singled out Sophie Wilde, but said the film's satire never quite lands, adding, "the divide on this one is going to be wide." Scott Menzel called it "ambitious, messy and strange" while admitting he'd come around on it after a few days.

What almost nobody disputes is Cruise himself. Riz Ahmed's performance gets repeated praise too, described by multiple critics as a highlight even in reviews that otherwise trash the film.

The transformation story

Much of the pre-release buzz had nothing to do with tone and everything to do with makeup. Cruise appears under heavy prosthetics for the role, a process that reportedly took six hours at first. Speaking on the "New Heights" podcast, Cruise said he pushed the makeup team to cut that down to under an hour through repeated timed drills, telling them, "if you say no, you can't do it, you will never get there."

There's a wrinkle in the release date too. Variety has reported an October 1 theatrical opening from Warner Bros, while TheWrap lists October 2 in the US. Either way, the film arrives inside the next fortnight, and on this evidence, audiences will be walking into cinemas with wildly different expectations depending on which review they read last.

The bigger question hanging over all this is what a divisive Cruise performance does to his awards chances, chances that trade watchers have been speculating about since "Digger" was first announced. A tour-de-force scene late in the film, mentioned by more than one critic without spoilers, may end up being the deciding factor once general audiences get a look.