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DIG
Director: K. Asher Levin Cast: Thomas Jane, Harlow Jane, Emile Hirsch, Liana Liberato, Makana David MPAA
Rating: Running Time: 1:30 Release Date: 9/23/22 (limited; digital & on-demand) |
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Review by Mark Dujsik | September 22, 2022 The prologue of Dig establishes a pretty clear character and the particular dynamic of a father-daughter relationship, and then, it forces that character and that relationship into a dangerous situation. Screenwriter Jason Chase Tyrrell might have done something with these basic elements, especially the central character, who's immediately set up as a man with anger issues and a problem with controlling his rage. What happens when such a man is backed into a corner by cold-blooded killers who are clearly going to do harm to him and the only family he has remaining? Obviously, we're in the realm of "what ifs" with that question. Tyrrell and director K. Asher Levin mostly dismiss the specifics they've established in the story's opening in favor of a fairly generic battle of wits between two parties that barely have a modicum of wit between them. The most clear-cut character here—beyond the broad, murderous sociopaths of the story, who are more plot devices than anything else—is Scott (Thomas Jane), the guy with anger problems. That trait results in his wife being killed by a stranger at a gas station over a road-rage incident. About a year later, Scott and his daughter Jane (Harlow Jane), who witnessed her mother's death and has lost most of her hearing from the gunshot, have a prickly relationship. He wants to take her on a fishing trip to try to work things out, but Victor (Emile Hirsch) offers him a digging job at some remote house at the same time. The gimmick here is that Victor and his girlfriend Lola (Liana Liberato) are ruthless murderers, who plan to dispose of Scott and anyone working with him after they've dug up whatever is under the patio of that house. The two hold Scott and Jane captive, force them to dig, and keep getting distracted long enough for the father and daughter to have a fighting chance every so often. It's all extremely straightforward and fairly predictable (The mystery of what's buried, for example, isn't much of one after Victor reveals some back story out of the blue). Tyrrell goes out of the way to establish that Scott is still as stubborn and hotheaded as he is during the prologue, but as soon as Victor and Lola take control of the situation, he becomes meek, calm, and hesitant even to take advantage of chances to escape from his captors. That's not necessarily an inconsistency, but it does feel like a missed opportunity to do something other than the obvious with this, well, obvious tale. The performances are convincing enough within the scope of characters whose motives and levels of intelligence shift depending on the needs of the plot, but when a movie puts matters of plot and conflict above everything else, those elements had better be solid. They aren't in Dig—not by a long shot. Copyright © 2022 by Mark Dujsik. All rights reserved. |
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(for
pervasive language, violence, some sexual content and brief drug use)
