Digging for Fire

Another chill Swanberg movie, where likable, real characters talk about life's problems, or talk around them (it's not mumblecore anymore I guess). This one is driven by maybe his most straight-forward storyline yet; ostensibly it's about re-kindling a marriage through both a literal and figurative "Digging For Fire." A great cast, character-driven humor (who knew Orlando Bloom would be a fit in something like this?) and a coked up Sam Rockwell -- would someone please give this man a seriously great role? I liked it quite a bit, like I like most of Swanberg's stuff, but I'm still waiting for that breakthrough experience from him. The kind of humanity and minor profundity of Linklater or someone like that.

There is a striking moment in "Digging for Fire" when Tim (Jake Johnson) is having pizza on his bed alone, isolated from his friends, while marvelling at a shoe he unearthed from the woods. This scene is subtly moving as we begin to understand what he's trying to look for and why. This is Joe Swanberg's most emotionally mature and thematically rich entry to date. His films pull off a great feat by being dialogue- driven yet having the dialogue be almost entirely improvised. The premise of this quiet relationship study is simple, Tim and Lee, a couple who have been married for a while and have a kid together start to feel as if they have lost their individual self in this process, a weekend apart unexpectedly helps them regain perspective. At the beginning of the film, Tim finds a gun and a bone in the woods behind the house. He takes advantage of the weekend alone to have his single, drugged up friends who he can't hold a satisfying conversation with over, yet he is obsessed with his discovery and wants to keep digging. He feels disconnected, he is metaphorically digging his way out of his crisis by investing himself in this emotional escape. He wants to find mystery, excitement, meaning, a situation that's bigger than him. At the end of the day, he just wants to find something. All of this goes away at the end of his search. Lee (Rosemarie DeWitt), on the other hand, is struggling with the idea that passion is absent in her life and that she has neglected her own desires. She yearns for a night out in town with her old friend but instead finds herself in the company of the dashing Ben (Orlando Bloom), which helps her assess her quest to find this passion she realizes is fleeting and impermanent. The film feels surreal, it is as if Tim and Lee are in a relationship limbo, hitting pause on their life together while they find answers to their personal issues. Did they change? Have they moved on from who they were? Do they still want the same things as they did before? Are the doubts they have simply just nostalgia? In a lot of ways, what they were both looking for and what they found were the same. Both Johnson & DeWitt deliver natural performances as expected from a Swanberg film. The film's great feature is its ability to keep the viewer's mind stimulated while figuring out what it has to say about relationships and identity crisis. The only gripe I have with this film is the ending, it would have had a perfect one if it ended a minute earlier, at the film's pivotal and most emotional moment. Dan Romer's synth-heavy score is effectively minimalistic and director of photography Ben Richardson's work marks a change in style in Swanberg's most and handsomely shot film. Also, honourable mention to Brie Larson, who plays a subversive version of the "other girl" trope.

The soundtrack is my favorite thing especially the ambient theme and such a great cast! Jake Johnson, Sam Rockwell, Sam Elliot, Chris Messina, Anna Kendrick and Brie Larson are all wonderful. I originally saw this a few years ago, and felt compelled to buy the main song. The drama is done really well, and it's not boring like several people complained that it is. I actually think it's interesting and it's more of a subtle adult movie. I also really enjoy everything Joe Swanberg has done or been involved with.

Cheating aspect of the movie is kind of what it all revolved around for me. The title alludes to this but in the description it makes it seem like a murder mystery. I didn't have problem with the filming but the story line and what morally it's displaying to the audience. Keep in mind i'm 22 and I don't agree with the fact they're having extramarital affairs while raising a toddler. I don't agree with appropriating a culture to think this behaviors ok. The majority of the movie kept me saying" NO DONT DO THAT"

For some reason this film was placed on one of the action channels. Well, it didn't have any. It didn't have much of a plot or any interesting characters either. Everything it build up to just fizzled out in the end. Don't waste your time with this.

Tim (Jake Johnson), his wife Lee (Rosemarie DeWitt) and son spend some time in her client's hillside home. Tim finds a gun in the yard but the cops are uninterested. Lee and her son visit her parents while Tim is suppose to finish his work. Instead of work, his friends Phil (Mike Birbiglia), Ray (Sam Rockwell) and others come to hang out. The guys start digging up where Tim found the gun and they find a bone. They are joined by others to do drugs. Tim and Max (Brie Larson) find a shoe and they continue the dig the next day finding even more bones. Ben (Orlando Bloom) rescues Lee from a drunk at a bar. Director Joe Swanberg continues to make his improvisational indies. The idea of digging and discovery does infuse the movie with an obsessive quality. It works well to keep the intensity up. It does mean that Lee has the lesser half of the movie. In fact, the movie would work better pointing the focus at Tim. There are lots of ways the dig could go. The cops could actually come. The owner could come home early. However Swanberg seems more interested in the couple's relationship.

With a decent ending I would probably had given Digging For Fire a seven star rating. But the problem is that there is no logical ending with this movie. Why they do such a thing I don't really get. What's the point of telling a story when the end is unquestioned answers? That makes absolutely no sense to me. If there are questions or mysteries in a movie then give me some answers. Otherwise it's just a waste of my time for watching this. And it's not that the movie was not interesting or so, because to me it was. The actors were good, the story wasn't that bad. It's just the pointless ending. That brings the movie into the category of "movies not worth watching". Too bad.