Cast: Tom Cruise, Riz Ahmed, John Goodman Review by Carol Allen
It is certainly strange but there are some pluses in this definitely odd and OTT offering from the director who made Birdman. And its theme, humanity’s role in the climate crisis, is dead topical.
Some will love it, more will hate it, probably Tom Cruise fans in particular. This is the ever young looking 62 year old actor transformed by virtue of makeup and prosthetics into a paunchy, balding, selfish old Texan oil millionaire, whose drilling operations in the Arctic are about to cause a major ecological disaster. A huge ice floe the size of a small island has detached itself from its Arctic home and is heading towards Europe, where it will cause a major ecological disaster. How can Digger transform himself in the world’s eyes from the villain behind that situation into the saviour of the planet?
The first shot of the film however is of a theatre, focusing on the stage where the curtains part to reveal a beautiful landscape; the same landscape we then see from Digger’s bedroom. A reflection perhaps of the theatricality of the acting we are about to experience? Or something more significant? Digger and his beloved and rather animatronic looking pet cat awaken to the bad news. And the roller coaster starts from there.
This is Cruise as you’ve never seen him before, not just because of the physical transformation but the larger than life, over the top style of his performance. Just one example, when he seizes a great oratorical opportunity of Digger haranguing a gathering of what I think may be the UN in a rumbustious, rambling and self justifying speech which makes Shakespeare’s political “Friends, Romans Countrymen” address look like a mere sonnet in comparison. It’s real barnstorming stuff.
John Goodman as the somewhat hapless US president pulls a lot of faces, Riz Ahmed is rather good as Digger’s chief scientist, who is finally driven to drink by his rumbustious boss. And there’s an awful lot of shouting by nearly everyone.
The look of the film is however terrific. The special effects of European cities disappearing under water, particularly for Londoners to see the Embankment engulfed, is more than somewhat terrifying. The ecological warning of the film is apposite. And the cinematography by Emmanuel Lubezkiis is pretty brilliant. It’s been suggested by some commentators that audiences may well give up and walk out before the film ends. That would be a shame. The final shot of the film, over which roll the closing credits, says everything the film has been trying to say and is really stunning.
And the good news for Tom Cruise’s perhaps disappointed fans is that Days of Thunder 2 is in the pipeline and Top Gun 3 is in development. So you’ll soon be able to see the Peter Pan of elders once more just the way you like him.
About the Author
