OVERTHINKING IS NEVER A GOOD THING
Alejandro Inattiru started thinking up Digger after he finished the movie The Revenant. He said he had the character and the idea, but he had no idea how to tell the story because he wanted more than just an End-of the-world movie. Eventually, he enlisted the help of a handful of accomplished writers to finish the script. Then, he brought the idea to Tom Cruise complete with storyboards, and last true remaining Hollywood star became very interested.
But the movie was too expensive, even with Tom Cruise involved, and that gave Inattiru an opportunity for a major rewrite.
Inattiru still had a problem with the script, “The original movie that was presented to Tom Cruise was a disaster movie.”
So, back to the drawing board he went, and what emerged was what we got on screen.
DIGGER IS NOT A DISASTER FILM.
On the surface, it’s very obvious that the film criticizes billionaires, the oil industry, tycoons, and politicians. But it doesn’t stop there. It points the finger at:
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Hollywood, celebrities, and the entertainment industry – who believe that they are actually making a difference in the world by – acting, entertaining, playing make-believe.
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Everyone and anyone who wants cheaper gas – If you want cheaper gas, you want the oil companies to keep on drilling. The director points the finger at you, and me.
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And finally, the audience watching the movie – That’s where I think the whole Curtis/Fossil Fools twist comes in. Iñárritu doesn’t want us sitting comfortably in our seats pointing at Digger and saying, “That asshole is the problem.” He eventually turns the finger around and points it right back at us.
It’s quite genius, to be honest.
But it’s just done poorly. Extremely poorly. Worse than most of these 72-hour film challenges I saw last week (and they were really bad!)
Alejandro Inattiru forgot the first rule of the entertainment industry, which is – drumroll please………….. to entertain!
Before you can preach, you have to entertain.
Before you can teach, you have to entertain.
You have to create a memorable, realistic character that we care about. Believable stories. A world that we can sink our teeth into. Not some bait-and-switch piece of crap.
So, all-in-all, great effort, but you don’t get an A for trying. You do, though, get an F for failing.
It took almost a decade to fail like this. That’s just amazing.
GRADE: F
Steve Young
