Digging for Fire (2015) User Reviews

Adult Coming of Age

[ferguson-6 · 6/10 · 27 August 2015]

Greetings again from the darkness. If one is evaluating the most misleading movie trailers of the year, this one would definitely be a contender. Rather than the carefree, laugh-a-minute, hanging with buddies, offbeat comedy it's presented to be, it's actually a rather dramatic observation piece on adult responsibilities and the changes we go through with marriage, kids, jobs, and so on. Think of it as an adult-coming-of-age weekend.

Writer/director Joe Swanberg has become a festival favorite with such previous films as Drinking Buddies and Happy Christmas. He co-wrote this script with Jake Johnson, who also stars as Tim, husband to Lee (Rosemarie DeWitt). As the film begins, we quickly realize Tim and Lee are terrific parents to their young son Jude (director Swanberg's real life son), but are also a bit emotionally-strained with the whole marriage and adult responsibility thing.

A pretty amazing ensemble cast delivers a 90 minute acting seminar based not so much on plot, as two separate spousal adventures. Using a client's beautiful home as their own family retreat, Lee and Tim quickly decide to spend a weekend apart - so that Tim can finish their taxes, and Lee can hit up her parents for Jude's pre-school tuition. Of course, watching Tim work on his taxes wouldn't be much of a movie, so instead, he finds a rusty revolver, and what appears to be a human bone, in the backyard. With Lee and Jude gone, Tim invites his friends over for beer, snacks and help with the gun/bone mystery. This leads to appearances by Sam Rockwell, Chris Messina, Mike Birbiglia, Brie Larson and Anna Kendrick.

Lee's trip home permits quick exchanges with both of her parents (Judith Light, Sam Elliott), an ego-boosting interlude with Orlando Bloom, and a visit with old friends played by Ron Livingston and Melanie Lynskey. Ms. Lynskey's appearance seems especially fitting, as the tone of the movie is very much in line with her TV show "Togetherness" with Mark Duplass. The "tone" is related to people who aren't so much unhappy being married as they are curious as to what they are missing. These people haven't adjusted to the fact that life isn't always a party, and it's not really possible to recapture the carefree days with your old friends. Sam Rockwell's character is a stark reminder of this.

The book "Passionate Marriage" makes multiple appearances in the movie, and it's clear that the lead characters believe they are losing their self, rather than evolving. It asks the question about what is "happy", and just how crucial it is to be open to the changes life brings.

The classic song "Li'l Red Riding Hood" from Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs gets a prime spot during the film and is much more enjoyable than the slightly annoying New Age score that is overused through many scenes. This isn't really a mystery about the gun and bone, and it's not really about old friends or saving a marriage. It's mostly about coming to grips with life and taking joy in the good things like a cute little boy and a trusted partner with whom to share each day.

Some interesting ideas, but I didn't think it really worked

[zetes · 6/10 · 5 January 2016]

I don't really like Joe Swanberg and his improvisational style, but I keep watching his movies because of the casts he assembles (plus they're usually super short and hardly painful or anything). There are a ton of good people in Digging for Fire (also Orlando Bloom), perhaps too many. Several have little to do. The plot here is borderline nonsensical, and, like the other Swanberg films I've seen, it doesn't amount to much in the end. Jake Johnson and Rosemarie DeWitt star as a married couple with a 3-year old. They have been asked to housesit for one of DeWitt's rich clients (I think she's a yoga instructor). While exploring, Johnson finds a gun and a bone half buried in the backyard. DeWitt immediately forbids Johnson from informing the police (as any normal human being would), and a second argument about their son's preschool sends her to the home of her parents (Judith Light and Sam Elliot). Meanwhile, Johnson throws a party (where Sam Rockwell, Mike Birbiglia, Anna Kendrick, Chris Messina and Brie Larson show up). He and Larson are intrigued by the mystery and start digging further. Later on, DeWitt will run into Orlando Bloom and both members of the couple are sexually tempted. The whole body in the backyard thing is just symbolism, but the police really ought to have been called.

improvisational indie

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 1 January 2016]

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.

Tim and Lee

[kosmasp · 7/10 · 5 September 2016]

Sometimes things have to be found. Sometimes they do not need to be found, but stay buried. But even the latter might need a bit of a refresh or redo of sorts. You'll understand once you've watched the movie. A movie that while romantic in some sense also will appall quite a few that will not like where the characters are going or what they are doing, literally and metaphorically speaking.

I'm not sure if it was just the script or something else, but the movie did attract a lot of talent. Some even just for really small roles, like Anna Kendrick and most better known to independent audiences, but still more than just stellar and performance wise really elevating the whole piece (no pun intended). It may be slow and it may not be within your moral values, but it's strong in the end and it just might be able to touch you with the way it tells the way of two adults who have lost their way ...

Dig / Dug

[spencergrande6 · 7/10 · 1 February 2017]

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.

Unimpressive

[SteveJ_888 · 4/10 · 12 November 2015]

This is a movie about nothing. That's fine for a half-hour episode of Seinfeld, because it's amusing and entertaining. This movie is neither. It's humorless, tedious and somewhat painful to watch.

I like slice-of life movies. I don't need action. I don't need anything to really happen as long as I experience something I normally wouldn't experience in everyday life. This movie is anyone's very ordinary everyday life with some amount of coincidence and absurdity added. Rather than creating interest, though, these devices only prevent anything genuine from emerging.

Only one of the two main characters is believable, and both lack color and depth. That's a serious flaw in a movie where almost nothing happens. A transformation of sorts does take place, but it feels contrived. The events leading up to the transformation don't in any way suggest that it should occur, or why.

I'm giving the movie 4 out of 10 because someone might get something from it, and because there are a few brief moments that I liked. Also, the acting is at least adequate.The movie is inferior, but not horrible. Observing everyday life on a long walk would be a better way to spend 90 minutes, though.

Swanberg's first misstep with this new, assured style

[StevePulaski · 6/10 · 27 August 2015]

When he kickstarted his career in the mid-2000's, Joe Swanberg immersed himself into the mumblecore scene by making decidedly smaller films, ones with shoestring budgets, shaky videography, and poor condenser microphones that picked up the sounds of static and excess noise. These films were one step above your average home movie, and yet, they provided hefty thematic relevance and authentic characters and dialog audiences weren't accustomed to seeing (I referred to a lot of the films as examinations of "post-college listlessness," being that the characters in the films were young and disillusioned with their current state in life because of the inevitable 'now what?' question they're asking themselves). Swanberg's earliest works like Hannah Takes the Stairs, Nights and Weekends, and Uncle Kent work to affirm this idea by simply showing characters as they are, decorated as people and not to the manipulation of a cogent plot.

Recently, Swanberg has upped the ante on his films, getting bigger budgets, bigger actors, yet still trying to remain true to his improvisational, narrative roots. It's a tricky but ultimately fascinating dance, for he is essentially getting actors to play along to his formula, which has proved to be successful on a resonation level for many people. Drinking Buddies, starring Jake Johnson, Olivia Wilde, and Anna Kendrick, was the first film Swanberg made where he took on a more assured, confident persona, boasting a slickness unseen in his earlier works. This style only progressed with films like the grossly unappreciated 24 Exposures and last year's Happy Christmas.

Digging For Fire, however, is his first film in many years that doesn't have the same staying power as those former features. It predicates itself off a very big, simple metaphor and has the look and feel that Swanberg and company took a long vacation and decided in a "think fast" manner they could turn their stay into a film shoot. There's nothing wrong with either of those, but only if that feel doesn't seep through into the audience and, despite a very concise runtime and great screen presences, it's evident by about the fifty minute mark that Swanberg doesn't have the profound ideas necessary to anchor a very loose, low stakes project like this.

The film focuses around a young married couple named Tim and Lee (Jake Johnson and Rosemarie DeWitt) and their young son Jude (Jude Swanberg), who are staying at their friend's home, which is perched on a hill of a very woodsy environment, for a few days while she is away. Tim ventures out into the woods one day to find a pistol and what looks to be a human bone; he says they keep digging to potentially stumble on a great find, while she things that things should be left the way they are, for this isn't any of their business. With that, Lee takes Jude to their parents' house for the weekend, where she winds up meeting a guy named Ben (Orlando Bloom), who seems to pay more attention to her emotions than Tim has of recent, and Tim kicks back at home, smoking weed, drinking Lagunitas, and inviting his pals (Chris Messina, Sam Rockwell, and Mike Birbiglia) over to continue excavating the property and fooling around with other girls while he should be doing the taxes. This takes both parties on an unexpected existential journey that has them questioning whether or not they want to take both of their respective new vices further or simply leaving them to rest where they're currently at in the moment.

Because Swanberg practically spoonfeeds us the idea he wants us to extract from Digging for Fire, a lot of the fun from his earlier films (and even his newer, more assured pictures) is lost. I recall writing my reviews of films like Hannah Takes the Stairs and Nights and Weekends with a refreshing and enlightening sense of progress, digging into certain scenes and trying to draw up my own thesis and own conclusions to figure out one of the many possible ways the film could be digested and analyzed. Digging for Fire doesn't have that kind of staying power; once you know the metaphor, it's hard to try and draw your own ideas in the film, especially when the characters are fairly empty.

Paradoxically, Digging for Fire isn't as substantial as it wants to be because it's simply trying to hard to be, and as a result, I can only look at the aesthetics and the characters as a means to recommend the film, though even those are rather subpar in comparison. The saving grace here is the humor, which is the most consistent in any Swanberg film of late. Swanberg is a fan of the wryest of wit; the wit that doesn't necessarily hit you in the present but a few seconds after the scene passes. Johnson and DeWitt have handled similar projects in the past (Johnson's being Drinking Buddies and DeWitt's being Your Sister's Sister) that relied on wry wit and awkward humor and both have a great sort of deadpan delivery when the script calls for it. Other actors, particularly Bloom and Rockwell, while fun to see in a low-budget Swanberg film, are admittedly out of their element, as their humor leans to the more brazen side than the cleverly nuanced realm Swanberg brings to the table.

Accentuating the positives here, Swanberg's young son is an absolute scene-stealer, the aesthetics are gorgeous, largely in part to the woodsy setting, and Jake Johnson continues to prove to be a potential long-term collaborator for Swanberg thanks to his laidback charm and muted hilarity. Swanberg also keeps things familiarly simple here in terms of directing, with the most complex shot being a quirky birds eye view shot when Tim, Lee, and Jude discover the gun and the bone early on in the film. From there on out, Digging for Fire is thoroughly pleasant but, give his films of the aughts, considerably underwhelming for Swanberg.

Miserable from start to finish

[kurtmw3000 · 2/10 · 30 August 2015]

While the trailer was slightly promising watching this movie and its story unfold was frustrating quite frankly sad. The couple is annoying and I don't care for any of the actors in this movie based on their performances except for Orlando Bloom. Is this what people in California are like? If you like topics like cheating, drinking, drug abuse and want to feel a general malaise wash over you then "Digging for Fire" delivers. If there is a "spoiler" it's that nothing really happens after all the digging. The weekend ends and the couple realize they still love each other for some reason. I don't understand why Mike Birbiglia was cast but he was slightly entertaining at first but seemed very out of place. Perhaps that was the point. I am a fan of his comedy and he's great in person on stage. The main character played by Jake Johnson comes across as a total jerk very early on and I generally didn't care for him. The wife seemed to be playing Helen Hunt but was at least somewhat likable. If Jake continues to write screenplays and making his own movies I hope they get better because this was absolutely horrible.

A good movie trapped in a mediocre movie.

[Rendanlovell · 6/10 · 8 November 2015]

'Digging for Fire' is a strange film. It's one of those movies that kicks its plot into gear within the first five minutes. We see the young family get to the house that they will be tending and only a couple minutes later a discovery is made. Tim (Jake Johnson) uncovers a rusty pistol and bone. Quickly he jumps to the conclusion that someone was shot and killed somewhere on this property. Of course his wife, Lee, denies that something like that could've happened and forbids him to search any further. But when she takes their child away for the week he keeps investigating. But the strangest thing about this film is how it constantly evolves from here. It's almost as if the discover happened so early in the film to hide the fact that there really isn't anything going on until the halfway mark. I say this because the film ends up not being about the mystery at all. In fact, it's about relationships and having a mid life crisis. Once the film starts to focus on this aspect 'Digging for Fire' becomes MUCH more interesting.

The film has a lot of great things to say and, for the most part, the film is able to tell them very well. But the problem is having to wait forty five minutes for things to get interesting. Once things do, trying to find the alleged body becomes uninteresting. Granted, it wasn't interesting before, but as soon as the real plot kicks in it becomes more then just a side note.

This is the biggest issue I ran into with this film. It's uneven pacing. The film tries to build up to its fantastic ending but can't seem to get off and running. Just when it starts to, it will cut to a bland scene that kills the steam that the previous scene built up. This is incredibly disappointing because the conclusion to this film is really great. But since the film never had a grasp on pacing it feels almost underwhelming.

I will say this on behalf of the film. The cast is excellent. Even more surprising is how long the cast list is. Sam Rockwell, Brie Larson, and Anna Kendrick are just a couple of the other stars here. They may not be in it for very long but when they come on screen their presence is immediately felt. Especially Sam Rockwell, as the won't get on with his life guy. Every time he comes on screen you can just feel how scummy he is.

There isn't much more I can say about this film without getting into heavy spoilers so, I leave you with this. 'Digging for Fire' is a good movie. A good movie that is trapped inside a mediocre movie. There is so much great material here and it's a shame to see a lot of it going to waste. Nearly everything it does right is countered moments later with something it does wrong. It's uneven, underwhelming, and often bland. But it also has a lot to say and if you can get past the first forty five minutes you may just learn a thing or two.

Wish They Had Dug Up the Bones of a Better Movie

[BlueFairyBlog · 4/10 · 27 September 2016]

Joe Swanberg is an actor who has become a seminal figure in the mumblecore movement of the past ten years. With films like "Happy Christmas" and "Drinking Buddies," he has a distinct voice among the indie set. His films often start with a simple outline for the plot, with some tragic thirtysomething characters, and then the dialogue is mostly improvised by the actors themselves. He often operates with a cast that he has worked before, such as Jake Johnson, Anna Kendrick, and Melanie Lynskey.

The film's plot is actually based on events in Jake Johnson's own life. The film follows a married couple, played by Johnson and Rosemarie DeWitt, who are having a hard time coexisting after the arrival of their son Jude. The wife, Lee, is a yoga teacher and one of her clients is letting the family stay at her vacation home for two weeks. The husband, Tim, digs around the property and finds a bone and an old gun. When Lee leaves to spend time with her family Tim invites a group of friends over, and though Lee has stated that he shouldn't dig anymore, he and his friends do anyway, and find quite a bit of evidence. The rest of the film sees both Tim and Lee try to find themselves in the company of others, as they attempt to piece together what they want from life.

I mean, that's the interpretation that I came up with in watching this film. Swanberg eschews traditional storytelling and rhythm in order to delve into the inner psyche of the subjects covered in his films. To do this he often focuses between two and four characters. In this film there are two central characters, but there's also a large ensemble cast who do nothing but throw off noise. Chris Messina shows up for a good ten seconds of screen time, and Anna Kendrick does her cameo in stride, but they don't add anything to the story besides showing that Tim isn't a hermit. Brie Larson probably has the largest role as a friend of a friend who helps Tim flirt with the idea of infidelity as she becomes his confidant. Sam Rockwell is an explosive if unneeded presence, as a friend who becomes jealous of the Tim and Brie's relationship.

Though there are some stark moments among the pretentious drivel, this is the worst example of the mumblecore movement I've seen yet. It reinforces the criticisms of most, as it's unfocused, monotonous, and slow. Johnson's usual charm is masked by a performance that weaves in between interesting and wayward. DeWitt isn't much better as the controlling and yet unfocused wife. If there had been a little more plot, a little more explanation, this would have been a much more interesting and deep film.

A brisk delight.

[Sergeant_Tibbs · 8/10 · 26 August 2015]

I hadn't seen any other Joe Swanberg as pre-requisites but if I knew the delights Digging For Fire had in store for me I would have certainly done my research. However, that would have been some undertaking. He's one of the decade's most productive filmmakers, directing (as well as pulling his weight in all the other roles) a dozen films this decade, half of which in 2011 alone. While he barely gets towards the 80 minute mark and so does Digging For Fire, his mumblecore roots are growing in ambition into something else, a more cinematic mumblecore perhaps. With an all-star cast, wonderful score and attractive widescreen photography, it reflects that Los Angeles glisten that allures so many. But even with this shine, it relishes in an uncontrolled improvisational style which is its blessing and its curse. On one hand it feels more natural, slice-of-life and the chemistry between the actors glows, but then there's a real lack of structure within each scene and the themes aren't fully fleshed out, instead letting the film be deliberately limited.

However, that's part of its charm for me. In a way, it feels like a mini-Short Cuts, but rather than Altman's high drama and ambiguity, it keeps it low-key and on-the-nose at points. Same vibrancy and endearing everyday sense of humour though. I was more pleased that a film about long-term monogamy and maturing didn't go the distance and I preferred it as a mere tease. Despite that scale on a short runtime, the editing keeps it very brisk, so brisk that even 20 minutes from the end it doesn't feel like its momentum is going anywhere. I can see that complaint from many but it's at least a good time with good people, especially when we have Jake Johnson, Brie Larson, Sam Rockwell and Rosemarie DeWitt riffing in front of us. I also found it weirdly specifically relatable, as I was also housesitting in L.A. and its themes articulated some of my deeper anxieties. It doesn't investigate them, but it pried them up in a way I could see them bare. Digging For Fire never soars but it's consistently absorbing and amusing. Here's hoping Joe Swanberg does have a film in his future where he runs at it with a Paul Thomas Anderson-esque tenacity. Bring this cast for the ride too.

8/10

There's earnest value here, but just not enough meaningful substance.

[I_Ailurophile · 6/10 · 31 August 2023]

I greatly enjoyed a couple of Joe Swanberg's previous films, 'Drinking buddies' and 'Happy Christmas.' In both those instances I think Swanberg's largely improvisational style of film-making served the pictures very well, as the loose framework of the narrative allowed the casts room to really explore the characters and the dynamics between them - and that was all they needed to be to succeed. That notion isn't one that necessarily works for every story concept, however, and I wonder if this isn't an example of a movie that isn't served as well by Swanberg's usual method. I still like 'Digging for fire,' but it's distinctly less engaging, and the viewing experience is one that comes and goes without making much of a mark.

The scene writing, such as it is, provides some fine scattered ideas. As the cast obviously had a substantial role in shaping what each scene ended up being, I think all are too be commended for finding a thought for each in turn that was meaningful, like sparse seeds that each could grow into something bigger. For that matter, I really like the cast, an ensemble filled with recognizable names, and all play their parts very well. Dan Romer's music is also lightly flavorful - nothing super remarkable, perhaps, but a nice touch layered on top of the proceedings. And from a technical standpoint, and concerning all those contributions from behind the scenes, I think this is pretty solid.

The issue I think have is that the very concept in this case portends a more specific, linear, crafted narrative, and Swanberg's improvisational approach is best suited for material in which characters have personal discoveries and the actors can probe the spaces in between it all. In 'Digging for fire, "the discovery of a bone and a gun send a husband and wife on separate adventures over the course of a weekend." That's not to say that the actors and characters can't also have like experiences in the manner Swanberg is known for, and sure enough that is definitely what we get in some measure amidst interesting story ideas. Still, this feature comes across as less focused, and with what feels like less leeway to do and be what they will, each moment comes off as a tad forced, or maybe contrived. All the great ideas that collectively form feel imbalanced and uncertain between standing individually as seeds of potential, and fitting together in the construction of a whole; between being organic manifestations and revelations of improvisation, and structured, deliberate machinations of a course laid in. The end result feels divided.

I repeat that I do actually like this, and I think in totality it's stronger and more enjoyable than not. I earnestly appreciate everything that Swanberg, Jake Johnson, the huge and admirable cast, and the crew poured into it. There's substantial skill and intelligence all throughout, and even kernels of outright brilliance. "Substance" is a key term, however, for this struggles with wanting to be both an assemblage of characters and actors in a singular space, discovering what emerges, and a carefully plotted delineation of separate rooms (scenes) that complete a definitive course of events. For all the value herein, it feels less meaningful. When all is said and done I think this is a title that's absolutely worth checking out if you're a big fan of someone involved, or just looking for something a bit more out of the ordinary. All the same, set aside the recognizable names and faces and 'Digging for fire' isn't necessarily anything special, and the recommendation it earns is a soft and casual one.

It could have been much better with a proper ending

[deloudelouvain · 5/10 · 22 January 2016]

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.

Plenty of improv

[ritera1 · 6/10 · 6 August 2022]

30-something couple and their toddler son house sit at a nice joint. Husband finds an old Saturday night special and a human bone in the dirt.

Basically some mild marital strife. Wife goes to visit grandparents and then out for dinner by herself. Meets Orlando Bloom as husband has a party instead of doing his taxes. Digs around in the dirt for more clues to a possible murder.

Improv'd on an outline. I like the flow of improving but the whole movie lacked urgency. Good actors kind of goofing off and it showed.

The Smoking Gun

[aciessi · 6/10 · 20 April 2021]

I've been meaning to introduce myself to Joe Swanberg. Perhaps this wasn't the best one to start out with, but if there's better films of his out there, he's certainly got promise. The first half of the film, which largely includes the mystery of the bone and the gun is excellent. I was really invested in it. The improvisation worked well with it too. Unfortunately, The film takes a massive shift in another direction and I just wasn't feeling it at all. The mystery is almost completely left behind. If that was the point, fair enough, but I thought it was a cheap move on Swanberg's part.

What bloody hipster hell is this?

[amandakesparza · 1/10 · 10 May 2019]

Possibly the whitest and most boring hour and a half in the history of cinema. I stuck in their waiting for a payoff that never came. My cat on the other hand enjoyed the extra attention whenever Rosemarie DeWitt began whining about her house or her husband or any other of the assorted 1st world problems she was facing. Can someone stop Swanberg from writing and directing anything else based on his very small bubble world he lives in.

Starts off slow on an absurd premise

[david_w_gibson · 3/10 · 4 November 2015]

Just started watching and I'm already upset. This movie starts off with a basic premise that a gun( a handgun at that! ) and a bone was found on a property, the guy calls LAPD, and they tell him "let us know if you find the body otherwise we;re not interested", total BS. Find a handgun alone and any police department will send an officer to investigate, let alone a handgun next to a long bone. The writers making up fiction to go with their story or an agenda to show police apathy about gun control? I don't know which, but fantasy, not even close to reality. Hard to like a movie starting off on a bad premise. I'll watch the rest of it under duress and update this later.

Boooooring !!!!

[redx1708 · 2/10 · 10 June 2018]

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.

I love this indie movie so much!

[UniqueParticle · 9/10 · 13 June 2019]

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.

Congratulate Me! I Made it Through 15 Minutes!

[PrairieCal · 2/10 · 28 August 2015]

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.

this felt like an uncomfortable movie , I'm glad I didn't go see this in theaters

[tornado-767-252050 · 1/10 · 3 March 2019]

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"

Unfortunately Very Boring

[bethsims · 2/10 · 24 June 2020]

I really wanted to like this film. I was attracted to it because it is filled with, literally drowning in, excellent acting talent but unfortunately there isn't any good writing or directing. It's very boring, meandering and pointless. I sat through it hoping for redemption at some point but, no such luck. Skip it.

you know like

[hvds-04090 · 1/10 · 24 February 2018]

What a language, terrible to hear i quit after 16 mins, a waste of time it was. If movies contain such language I think its made for stupid people who speak like this: you know all the time. It is sick and stealing time, money and very dumb. somebody should tell them and somewhere warn and rate stupidity in movies.

Joe Swanberg's most emotionally mature entry to date

[alwayshungryy · 8/10 · 8 October 2015]

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.

Digging for Nothing

[solojere · 2/10 · 4 September 2021]

There is no way of talking about this movie without spoiling it, so be warned. However, there is not much that you can spoil as nothing really happens, which seems to be a trend in Joe Swanberg films. I kind of enjoyed Happy Christmas, and I wasn't a huge fan of Drinking Buddies, but this is the worst of the 3 films. The film opens up with a couple who are staying in some else house find a gun and a bone in the yard. The husband (Jake Johnson) thinks there may be a body buried in that place. Does this sound like an interesting movie? Trust me. It's not. This is mainly because the film isn't about that. Instead of the movie being about a guy trying to dig up a buried body, the film is actually about a white upper-middle couple who spend the weekend apart and all their drama. Basically, the husband and wife take a weekend to see if they really want to be together, but none of their problems are that serious. For example, the husband doesn't want the wife's parents to pay for their kid's pre-school. Cry me a river. Not only that, but once again, the film is largely improvised, which makes the dialogue awkward in places. Also, the editing is awful in a lot of places, as the dialogue overlaps, and you can't tell what anyone is saying. The film also tries to make you think that the couple might cheat on each other, but it literally gives you no reason to care one way or the other.

There are actually a lot of great actors in this film, all of whom I like from much Better films. For instance, this film has Anna Kendrick (who is one of my favorite actors from Pitch Perfect1&2, Up in the Air, A Simple Favor, and many others), Orlando Bloom (Lord of the Rings, & Pirates), Jake Johnson (Jurassic World), Brie Larson (Kong Skull Island), Sam Rockwell (The Green Mile and JoJo Rabbit), and the great Sam Eliot. However, despite all this talent, the film failed to engage me at all. In fact, I have watched this movie twice now because the first time I watched it, I wasn't sure if I gave it a fair chance. However, after re-watching it, I still don't know what the main characters' names are. Also, to be fair, a lot of these actors only have small parts in the film, and they are just improvising in the scenes that they are in. For instance, Anna Kendrick only has two scenes in the film. In one, she is doing drugs and strips down to her underwear, and jumps in a pool. This would be fine, but it is super awkward when a naked man jumps in with her and hugs her. Like, what was the point? And the other seen she helps sow up Orlando Bloom's face. It was a complete waste of her and her talents as an actor. In fact, I would have of all of Anna Kendrick's films I have seen so far; this one is my least favorite of hers. Also, I hated the way the film treated Brie Larson's character. I didn't give it a one-star because I think Anna and Brie acutely elevated the scenes they are in. And when it is all said and done, like the possible dead body at the start there really was no point to this movie..