John Goodman stands by Digger despite the Tom Cruise film’s negative reviews. The actor recently spoke about the criticism and admitted the early reaction affected the movie before audiences saw it.
On the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Goodman said the reviews “hurt” and felt they damaged the film’s chances before its release. He believes the harsh response gave people a reason to avoid watching it. However, the actor remains proud of the project and enjoyed working on it.
“Yeah, it hurt,” he said. Goodman also mentioned that the negative reviews of the movie “kind of killed us before we opened,” before saying, “I’m proud of it, and I had a ball doing it. It was a good six months out of my life. I started to read the review in the New Yorker today, I’m trying to toughen myself up, and it was actually a great review.”
Why was Digger so divisive among critics?
Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Digger stars Cruise as a wealthy oil tycoon whose actions trigger an environmental disaster. The film takes a satirical approach, mixing dark comedy with a larger message about the damage caused by unchecked power and greed.
That approach has reportedly divided critics. Some praised the film’s ambition, visual style, and Cruise’s performance, while others felt its unconventional storytelling didn’t come together.
“I respect the swing and what Alejandro González Iñárritu is going for,” Variety’s Clayton Davis wrote. “Tom Cruise and John Goodman are delivering stellar work, and the production design and cinematography are impressive. In the end, not all the dots connect, and I wish the film leaned harder into the absurdity and satire it kept reaching for. Shocker! The divide on this one is going to be wide.”
Several other reviews described the movie as unpleasant or difficult to follow, while others called it one of the more daring studio films in recent years. Goodman described it as a “huge swing” and said it was a “nice wake-up call” about being more conscious of the environment. He also admitted to being a “big hypocrite” by supporting the film’s message while still enjoying driving a big-engine car.
Originally reported on ComingSoon.
