Director: Joe Swanberg Starring: Jake Johnson, Rosemarie DeWitt, Orlando Bloom, Brie Larson, Sam Rockwell, Sam Elliot Writers: Joe Swanberg, Jake Johnson | 3.5/5 Digging for Fire Though Indie mastermind Joe Swanberg has been making films since the early 2000’s, he has more visibility than ever thanks to 2013’s excellent Drinking Buddies. In a Woody Allen-esque turn of events, Swanberg has released a pleasantly simple new film every year since. Last year he gave us the watchable, but underwhelming Happy Christmas. Now we have the marriage-dissection drama Digging for Fire. While neither film reaches the heights of Drinking Buddies, both films offer up fresh looks at aging-hipster life problems, from relationships to responsibilities. This is especially true of Fire, which follows young parents as they take separate detours for a night, testing the boarders of their marriage and uncovering tendencies best left buried. That message is echoed through the film’s central plot in a sturdy, but way-too-obvious metaphor. Housesitting for one of her celebrity yoga clients, Lee (Rosemarie DeWitt) sees this new opportunity as a way to reconnect with her husband and rediscover herself as an individual. Lee’s husband Tim, played by New Girl’s Jake Johnson, has slightly less lofty ambitions. A grammar school teacher on Summer break, Tim has one responsibility: go through a year’s worth of receipts and file taxes. As you can expect, Tim chooses to smoke pot and go snooping around the property. While digging around in the backyard, he finds a gun and what appears to be a human bone. Tim’s feels he has to keep digging and solve the mystery. Lee loses her patience with her husband’s antics, packs up little Jude (Swanberg’s own son), and visits her parents. So our story begins. |
Left to his own devices, taxes are the last thing on Tim’s mind. He invites a whole group of his friends over for a night of Scooby-gang digging, coke, and various other forms child’s play. Pals include characters played by Mike Birbiglia, Chris Messina, Swanberg-regular Anna Kendrick, and, most importantly, Sam Rockwell’s Ray and Brie Larson’s Max. Ray is everything Tim was and Max is something he may want. Past and present. Is what he had or what he could have better than what he has? Like a possible body in the back yard, Tim wants to dig up those answers, warnings be damned.
Lee is faced with mirrored temptations on her own midnight mission. She has a few conversations with her charming parents, played by Sam Elliott and Judith Light, that prove some good points, but sound more written than natural. The late night rendezvous she has with Orlando Bloom feels more like something that could actually happen. You can guess what happens next: some harmless flirting, followed by some hesitant kisses, followed by guilt. You have seen this before, but the endlessly watchable cast and the confident direction from Swanberg makes it all seem fresh and go down smooth.
(Available on iTunes)