Digging for Fire (2015)

The title is perfect for the film. It instantly makes your mind go to asking questions like 'who's digging?', 'will they get what they are digging for?' It starts off slow, goes on slow and ends... If you were looking for action or adventure try googling something with Tom Cruiseo r Will Smith in them. This film intends to send you on a self-examination journey at least that's what happened to me. Have I ever been distracted? Have I ever felt the need of changing what I had for something different? Have there ever been sufficient doubt whether I was going in the right direction?.. Have you? The main characters are a husband and a wife, they have an adorable little kid and seem to be good parents. They are house sitting for her mother and as they walk around the area they find something. It interests Tim (the husband) a lot but they decide to leave it and not dig around finding more. And will he when Lee (the wife) does to visit her mother? As the film goes on viewers realise they have different understanding of what education is best for their son, they are not happy with where they live, they are short on money, probably yet feel like they haven't had enough partying before things got so serious and now more is expected of them. But how do we know when we are ready?

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.

I don't understand the work of Joe Swamberg. Every time I give it a try because I'm a bit intrigued, but every time I am disappointed. This one has even come to make me laugh out of boredom and I kept raising my eyebrows at every shot or dialog. I don't understand his obsession with white, hip adults in hip environments. A beautiful house in Cali, adults doing coke, getting naked in pools... how indie... (sarcasm). The stories could be interesting or touching or alternative or intriguing but they are none of that. They feel like a failed attempt, every time. I would be interested in the conflict of an adult not really good at dealing with the responsibilities that come with a family lifestyle and being torn between the melancholia of younger days, I honestly would. But not translated in just a bunch of guys hanging out around a pool. I mean, not the way it is filmed here. It needs a bit more depth, something that would resonnate with a feeling we all go through. But no, it's not working at all. Joe Swamberg needs to move on to another subject. Can he see further than his own environment? He has the tools, but doesn't seem to want to.

Unappealing, unlikable characters I found a bit weird, complete with health foods and some sort of Yoga exercises, who seemed to compensate by smoking. Their little boy seemed to have no name and was called only Buddy again and again. It was impossible to care about them or what might or might not happen to them. In addition I found the repeated close ups of their big noses distracting. If a film can't grab your attention in the first 15 minutes, and if there are no characters you identify with or care about, it's time to throw in the towel and give it up. Worst of all I'll never get my $6.99 back from Amazon Instant Video. The best part of this film was the stop button on the remote.