Tom Cruise Digs Himself a Hole

The most interesting thing about Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s “Digger” isn’t that it’s a critical failure, or that it’s shaping up to be a box-office disaster.

It’s that it represents the botched conclusion to an otherwise successful 20-year campaign by Tom Cruise to remake his image into what it was in the late 1990s, before a string of public-relations disasters nearly buried him.

You may have heard “Digger” is “unpleasant” and “insufferable.” It is. But not in a way that will win it Oscars. Like its title character, it’s loud, ugly and plain disagreeable. Critics hate it, and audiences aren’t excited. Warner Bros. will be lucky to escape with an eight-figure loss.

This must come as a terrible blow for Mr. Cruise.

“Digger” is the first time in a while that he has stepped into a role other than the clenched-jaw hero or the plucky underdog. It’s a shame. He’s been setting himself up for a big gamble like this for more than two decades, and the movie is a terrific failure.