Movie Reviews
Dig (2022) Movie Review: A Surprisingly Goofy Kidnap Caper – The Illuminerdi
If there’s one phrase I by no means thought I’d use to explain Dig, it could be “goofy”. Its premise and trailer indicate a tense thriller, however in execution, it’s a moderately ridiculous affair whose villains are extra comical than conniving and its heroes don’t get a lot to do as soon as the setup is out of the way in which. There’s additionally surprisingly little digging for a film known as Dig, however no less than it’s a decently enjoyable watch if you may get with its method. Dig is a serviceable lark that ought to discover a residence among the many direct to video crowd on a Sunday afternoon.
Widowed father Scott Brennan (Thomas Jane) is struggling to attach together with his largely deaf daughter Jane (Harlow Jane). Each are demolition contractors about to strip their home, however earlier than they will begin, the dysfunctional duo is kidnapped by Victor (Emile Hirsch) and Lola (Liana Liberato), an unhinged couple who want one thing buried beneath the property and can power them to dig for it. Now Scott and Jane should discover a approach to escape their captors earlier than it’s too late.
Dig Official Trailer
I put Dig in an analogous class to the Bruce Willis movie Apex. It’s not nice, however for those who can settle for its largely cornball method, you’ll get some first rate leisure worth out of it.
The movie begins on a critical observe with the occasion that left Scott’s spouse lifeless and Jane largely deaf, and the primary act establishes the tense dynamic between the 2 properly sufficient. I’m at all times up for tales about dad and mom reconnecting with their youngsters and Dig clearly units up that relationship as its emotional middle. They’ve wonderful chemistry and Harlow Jane does properly in a largely non-speaking function, as an alternative speaking both via signal language or along with her eyes.
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I additionally like that the movie places us in her perspective time to time, decreasing the sound so we are able to barely make out what the opposite characters are saying. It’s a small, however welcome trick that makes it simple for us to attach with the character and root for her and Scott to flee.
After which we’ve our villains. Your response to those two will decide your response to the general movie, and for me they have been entertaining however non-threatening more often than not.
Hirsh and Libeerato are significantly campy right here, and whereas I loved their gusto, it persistently clashed with the thought of them being credible threats. They make ridiculous choices at nearly each flip (taking off their masks, getting chatty with their hostages and even leaving them alone when the digging takes place) and a few of their dialogue is enjoyably ridiculous (my favourite line from Victor is “You’d have extra holes in you than SpongeBob SquarePants”).
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Whereas I definitely loved these ridiculous interactions, I want the movie had been extra constant in presenting Victor and Lola as folks we needs to be fearful of. Hirsch and Liberato each do properly within the temporary moments of brutality they’re given, so I’ve to surprise why their violent natures weren’t performed up extra.
One other enjoyable quirk of Dig is its selection of music. In fact we get the anticipated thriller music every now and then, however there are a number of situations the place nation songs play throughout scene transitions. This additionally added to the campiness of the movie for me and I applaud the filmmakers for committing wholesale to it. I’d love extra thrillers to have nation music needle drops sooner or later.
You might have observed I’ve barely talked about digging right here. That’s as a result of the movie spends a big portion of its runtime constructing as much as Scott and Jane digging, however valuable little on them really doing that. It’s not an issue, but when anybody went into this anticipating most of it to be centered across the two digging within the scorching solar, they’d be disenchanted.
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Scott and Jane’s father-daughter dynamic additionally might have gotten extra focus within the movie’s midsection, however the 3rd act concludes that drama on a comparatively pleased observe. It is a completely first rate approach to spend 90 minutes on a lazy afternoon, and I’m pleased I noticed it. Whether or not deliberately or not, Dig is a campy, ridiculous time-killer with entertaining performances. Get your shovels and discover it.
2.5 out of 5 stars (first rate)
Dig is releasing in theaters & VOD on September twenty third! Tell us what you considered the film over on our social media!
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