Digging for Fire is a satisfying story that is unfortunately contained within a world that doesn’t feel fleshed out.
Rarely does a film feel like it has so much to say in such an empty-feeling package.
Digging for Fire is the combined writing effort of star —well, half-star — Jake Johnson of New Girl and director Joe Swanberg. It details the marriage of listless public school teacher Tim (Johnson) and his yoga instructor wife Lee (Rosemarie DeWitt), who possesses a strong wanderlust. The couple is spending time in the home of one of Lee’s clients in the Hollywood Hills with their three-year-old son Jude. The catalyst of the story involves Tim finding a rusty gun and a bone while digging around in the backyard. His interest is sparked, and he immediately sets out combing through the dirt to find more items of interest. Lee sets off with the couple’s son to spend the weekend with her parents while Jake stays behind and spends time with his buddies.
The stage that has been set at this point is one of incredible scale, established with a multitude of characters — many of whom we never see again — and beautiful cinematography that captures the scale of the landscape around our characters.
Tim’s fun with his buddies provides the opportunity to share his story about the found bone and gun, which leads to them all wanting to continue the excavation. They find other items such as a license plate and shoe, while newcomers Ray (Sam Rockwell), Max (Brie Larson) and Alicia (Anna Kendrick) arrive at Tim’s shindig. Drugs and alcohol provide the group with entertainment when Tim’s initial friend group takes off for the night.
Lee’s weekend involves spending time with her mom (Judith Light) and step-dad (Sam Elliott), where they discuss how Jude is going to be schooled with Lee’s mom claiming that Tim is biased in wanting Jude to go to public school because he is a teacher. Lee leaves the house and stops by a friends house and then continues on to a bar to relax, where she meets Ben (Orlando Bloom) and goes on her own adventure.
While this is going on, Tim has been spending the day in an oddly romantic way with Max. She helps him dig and further his obsession with unearthing the mysteries behind the bones and ‘artifacts’.
The movie as a whole constantly pushes the theme of divorce toward the viewer. Various characters have marital disagreements or are outright introduced as divorced. It helps to strengthen the divide that is forming between Tim and Lee.
Tim and Lee spend the movie digging for “fire.” In this case fire really means something or anything at all to them. They want the old boring aspects and routines of their lives to wither away and be replaced by some new sense of purpose. This is supported by a wonderfully bass-heavy score that kicks in during moments of change and opportunity for the protagonists.
Lee reminds Tim multiple times to do the taxes while she is gone, but we inevitably find out that the taxes aren’t what really matters.
Digging for Fire is ultimately a satisfying movie about discovering one’s self and reinventing the purpose of our lives for those around us.
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Johnson gives a convincing performance as Tim. He does a great job pushing the idea that Tim is bored with life and latching onto any small interesting thing that occurs to him. DeWitt mirrors Johnson’s performance effectively; her pursuit of meaning leads to her taking risks and going on an adventure that you would never expect from her at the beginning of the film. Sam Rockwell also gives a fantastic performance as Tim’s bad influence, Ray, though he only appears for a handful of scenes.
The film’s emptiness is a result of a massive cast of characters who are introduced as somewhat important to our main character’s lives and then disappear without a trace for the rest of the film. The scale of the film is grand but the characters only have small interactions that feel somewhat meaningless.
The movie builds up to some great, expected bang or flash, but it only leaves us with a fizzle. Sometimes a little fizzle isn’t so bad.
Rating: 3/5
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