Tom Cruise's 'Digger' Divides Critics With Baffling, Brave Satire

Tom Cruise's new film "Digger" premiered to sharply divided first reactions from film journalists, with critics calling it everything from "baffling" and "unpleasant" to "brave" and "fascinating," signaling a wide split in opinion. Directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, the satirical black comedy stars Cruise as a wealthy tycoon who must save the world after his oil rig causes an environmental catastrophe. While some praised Cruise's performance as his best since "Magnolia" and lauded the film's visual inventiveness, others called it a "mess" and predicted a "horrendous" audience score. The supporting cast includes Riz Ahmed, John Goodman, and Jesse Plemons. The film marks Cruise's return to adult-oriented drama after over a decade of action roles, with his transformation requiring heavy prosthetics that were reduced from six hours to under one hour of application time. "Digger" opens in theaters Oct. 1 from Warner Bros.