Digging for Fire Review
Discovering an old gun and a bone changes a California couple’s weekend plans in the movie Digging for Fire, which had great potential for an exciting story but lacked the action and passion needed for a compelling movie.
Everyone knows the two things you can never escape are death and taxes, which become part of the story for Tim, played by Jake Johnson, and Lee, played by Rosemarie DeWitt, who are married with a young son stuck in a marriage rut.
The discussion of selecting the right preschool sends their marriage down a path which reveals more about their heart and true intentions when they go their separate ways and spend the rest of the weekend partying, drinking, doing drugs with their friends, and having an affair.
Orlando Bloom cooking in the kitchen brings the only fire, leaving everyone else desperately digging for more.
Brief appearances by Orlando Bloom, Sam Elliott, Judith Light, and Ron Livingston were the highlights of the movie but even their star power could not redeem a story lacking movement and focus.
The gun and bones prove frustrating for those who love a good mystery since watching the disjointed scenes waiting for the reveal sadly never happens. Just when Tim uncovers a skeleton’s hand, he mysteriously figures out his life, fills in the giant hole, and returns to his wife.
Although Joe Swanberg has been credited with making what some are calling the most movie like film he has ever created with his use of 35mm film, what appears to be improvised dialogue is definitely not something many will enjoy simply because the movie trailer is more exciting than the movie itself.
Parental Advisory:
Digging for Fire is not a movie for children. This is an adult movie featuring mature topics involving drug use, infidelity, brief full frontal male nudity, and scenes not suitable for children.
Tim (Jake Johnson) and Lee (Rosemarie Dewitt) are married with a young child. The chance to stay at a fancy home in the Hollywood Hills is complicated by Tim’s discovery of a bone and a rusty old gun in the yard. Tim is excited by the idea of a mystery, but Lee doesn’t want him to dig any further, preferring that he focus on the family taxes, which he promised to do weeks ago. This disagreement sends them on separate and unexpected adventures over the course of a weekend, as Tim and his friends seek clues to the mystery while Lee searches for answers to the bigger questions of marriage and parenthood.
Digging for Fire is rated R for language including some sexual references, drug use, and brief graphic nudity.
Digging for Fire opens on Friday, August 21st at Sundance Sunset Cinemas in Los Angeles, IFC Center in New York, and Music Box Theatre in Chicago. Beginning August 25th it is available on VOD. On August 28th, the movie opens on 30 screens including Boston, DC, San Francisco, Dallas, Austin, Houston, Seattle, Portland, Phoenix, St. Louis, Kansas City, Denver, Minneapolis, Miami, Tampa, Orlando, Atlanta, Philadelphia, San Diego, and Cleveland.
- Release Date: August 21, 2015 in select cities
- Rating: R
- Running Time: 83 minutes
- Cast: Jake Johnson, Rosemarie DeWitt, Jane Adams, Steve Berg, Mike Birbiglia, Orlando Bloom, Tom Bower, Sam Elliott, Anna Kendrick, Brie Larson, Judith Light, Ron Livingston, Melanie Lynskey, Chris Messina, Kent Osborne, Sam Rockwell, and Timothy Simons
- Director: Joe Swanberg
- Producers: Jake Johnson, Joe Swanberg, and Alicia Van Couvering
- Executive Producers: Peter Gilbert, Eddie Linker, and Chris Webber
- Screenplay by: Joe Swanberg and Jake Johnson
- Distributer: The Orchard
