Tom Cruise's "Digger" Flopped Hard, But the Director Isn't Backing Down

“Digger”was supposed to be a big swing for Tom Cruise, a satirical comedy from Oscar-winning director Alejandro González Iñárritu about an eccentric oil tycoon racing to stop an ecological disaster of his own making. Instead, it opened to $8 million domestically, the lowest debut of Cruise’s career since 2007’s“Lions for Lambs,”and critics were not gentle. The $135 million film sits at 51% on Rotten Tomatoes, with one reviewer calling it a“laugh-free turd.”

But here’s where it gets interesting. Audiences gave“Digger”a 71% score, a full twenty points higher than the critics. That split tells you something: people who actually bought tickets found something to like, even if the professionals didn’t. Iñárritu seems unsurprised by the divide, calling it“an uncommon film”that’s meant to provoke rather than please. His take:“This is not like an ice cream.”

Tom Cruise, for his part, posted on Instagram over the weekend that he was“so proud”of the film, even as reports suggest his Oscar hopes for this one have dimmed considerably. Love it or hate it,“Digger”has become the movie everyone has an opinion about, which might be exactly what a satire is supposed to do. So, where do you land: trust the critics or trust the audience?