‘We’ve been in love, man, we’ve been in love…’
Joe Swanberg is an acquired taste. His films are lovingly crafted, mostly improvised, human stories that are as low key as they are ordinary. When I say ‘ordinary’, I don’t mean that as an insult, what I mean is that Swanberg’s films are a brand of hyperrealism that ensure they are sometimes closer to documentaries than feature films. This unique brand of filmmaking has led to such successes as Drinking Buddies, Happy Christmas and Win it All, not to mention his excellent Netflix anthology series Easy. The opportunity to improvise and play real human characters must also be hugely appealing to the acting fraternity, as borne out by this little indie flick boasting a cast featuring Jake Johnson, Orlando Bloom, Brie Larson, Sam Rockwell, Anna Kendrick, Sam Elliott and many others. A true ensemble cast…
Tim (Johnson) and Lee (Rosemarie DeWitt) are a seemingly happy couple until a strange discovery in their backyard inspires a crazy night that takes them in wildly different directions.
Infidelity and sexual politics have long been a preoccupation for Swanberg and Digging for Fire basically uses a hole in the ground as a framing device for a meditation on what it means to be in a relationship and what it means to be truly happy. Most of the cast are frequent collaborators with Swanberg and this familiarity provides the foundation for a number of authentic performances, not least from Johnson and DeWitt in the main roles. Elsewhere, Rockwell is hilarious throughout and makes the most of the small amount of screen time he is allotted, Bloom and Kendrick allow their own talent to shine through, but it is Larson who really impresses as a beautiful stranger with a shared interest in finding out just what is going on in the mysterious backyard hole. On the basis of this performance, it is easy to see why she would go on to become a superstar.
As with Swanberg’s entire output, Digging for Fire won’t be for everyone, but if you’re more interested in the nuances of human connection than splashy special effects then this is the movie for you.