The first three adaptations of novels by Colleen Hoover — It Ends With Us, Regretting You and Reminders of Him — were unabashed melodramas, happily content to exist in a sort of elevated Lifetime context. With Verity, however, the filmmakers are aiming for prestige, thanks to the help of two excellent actresses.

Verity Stars Anne Hathaway and Dakota Johnson as Colleen Hoover-esque Novelists

While Verity may have grander ambitions, its story is no less tawdry. Bestselling author Verity Crawford (Anne Hathaway) — whose book jackets look quite a bit like those wrapped around Hoover’s own tomes — has built a career on pitch-black thrillers told exclusively from the villain’s perspective. Lowen Ashleigh (Dakota Johnson) is a well-reviewed but little-read writer in the same genre; she’s coping with the financial failure of her latest novel and the recent loss of her mother.

Ashleigh is drawn to a slick publishing house with an unusual offer: Crawford has quietly been sidelined by a car accident, and the book label needs someone to keep the novels flowing. Enchanted by Crawford’s charming husband (Josh Hartnett), Ashleigh moves into the couple’s remote home, discovering that the celebrity writer is actually catatonic and unlikely to recover.

Given unfettered access to Crawford’s notes, Ashleigh quickly discovers secrets beneath the couple’s enviable exterior. (And if any aspiring thriller writers want an idea for a real twist, here’s one: Create a perfect-seeming couple whose perfect exterior is, in fact, genuine and doesn’t hide any dark secrets. No one would see it coming.)

A Tortured Plot Is Elevated by Its Stars

Verity is a fascinating tale, if not exactly a subtle one; its milieu may suggest Daphne Du Maurier, but its story beats recall Days of Our Lives. There’s nothing wrong with that — everyone loves a bit of pulp — but it’s a plot that could easily fall into hokum if not deftly handled.

Director Michael Showalter, whose roots in comedies such as Wet Hot American Summer have given way to Oscar-bait dramedies such as The Big Sick and The Eyes of Tammy Faye, does sturdy work, even inserting artful composition into key scenes. But the film belongs to its stars, who ultimately carry it even when the drama sags.

Johnson, who knows a thing or two about big-screen book adaptations, continues to prove that she’s a powerful and charming actress. Hathaway, however, transcends, giving one of her best performances — a strong statement, considering she already has an Oscar and has been great in three other movies this year alone; Mother Mary, The Odyssey, and The End of Oak Street, all of which we’ve reviewed. She walks a tightrope, constantly making subtle adjustments that call her every word into question. The film depends on this theatrical subterfuge — and Hathaway knocks it out of the park.

After earning a pair of back-to-back Best Director Oscars — a feat only matched by John Ford and Joseph L. Mankiewicz — director Alejandro González Iñárritu disappeared from theaters. After 2015’s The Revenant, his next film was the unremarkable 2022 black comedy Bardo, made for Netflix. The new film Digger, an ecological satire and star vehicle for Tom Cruise, is the director’s first theatrical release in 11 years.

Digger Stars Tom Cruise as a Reckless Oil Baron

Aiming for the middle ground behind his braggadocious turn in Magnolia and his over-the-top scenery chewing in Tropic Thunder, Tom Cruise stars as Digger Rockwell, an aging oil baron equally obsessed with domination of the planet and his 30-year-old cat, Maggie. Rockwell awakens one morning to a raft of bad news: There’s an alarming crack forming in a glacier where he’s set up an oil rig, and the cat is not so much dying as functionally dead.

More concerned with the feline than the fissure, Rockwell dismisses the concerns of his scientists — only to be swiftly informed by a terrified toady (Riz Ahmed) that the rig has blown up and a giant glacier is drifting toward Europe. As he gathers the blustering President (John Goodman) and most of the United States’ military brass, it becomes clear that millions will die in a European tsunami as a result of the disaster.

Digger Has Twists in Store, But They’ll Only Leave You Frustrated

It’s impossible to go any deeper into the plot of Digger without giving away several key developments that are obscured by the film’s marketing and trailer. The film has been presented as something of a Coen brothers-style satire; while I think the film is indeed satirical, its approach to farce is preachy, performatively clever and frustrating.

One key development seems designed to make the audience check out of the main storyline, only to be hooked back in by another twist — a narrative merry-go-round that is far more infuriating than intriguing.

Your mileage may vary on these choices, but even if you accept them, the film is just no good. Cruise no longer seems to have the acting muscle necessary to make his big choices work, and the rest of the cast — including a criminally underutilized Sandra Hüller — doesn’t do much better. (Ahmed is the easy MVP.) Most of the jokes don’t land; many of the scenes are dull; and the few good ideas are quickly discarded in favor of more directorial tapdancing.

Iñárritu, who also co-wrote the film with a trio of collaborators, has made some excellent films, including his Oscar-winning duo The Revenant and Birdman. Those movies are far in the rearview mirror, however, and the director may just be out of practice. I’m sure he has more good work in him, but you won’t find it in Digger.

With Few Other New Releases, Verity and Digger Tangle with Old (and Older) Competition at the Movies

The only other new release this week is Rolling Loud, a comedy about a father losing his teen son at the massive hip-hop festival of the same name; Travis Scott and other rappers join a cast featuring Owen Wilson, Matt Rife and (somehow) Henry Winkler. It’s not expected to make much of a splash, as Verity is expected to top the box office. To do so, it’ll have to eclipse a seven-year-old film; last week’s winner was the encore presentation of Avengers: Endgame, as the re-release topped the box office and became one of the most successful repertory releases ever.

Elsewhere at the box office, our pick from last week, Primetime, opened in 4th place — just a bit behind Brad Pitt in Heart of the Beast, a film that failed to impress anyone in the TABLE offices. Both couldn’t quite match the second-weekend total of Resident Evil, the horror hit that revitalized the zombie franchise; Zach Cregger’s film managed a second-place finish in its sophomore frame. Fading fast — and with good cause — is Practical Magic 2, which failed to properly mix its midnight margaritas, metaphorically speaking.

Read more of Sean Collier’s movie reviews in our guide to the arts, culture, and entertainment.

About the Author

Sean Collier is the editor-in-chief of Shady Ave and the arts and culture editor of TABLE Magazine. Before joining the TABLE Media team, he spent nearly 15 years as a writer, editor and columnist at Pittsburgh Magazine. As the in-house film critic for the top-rated WDVE Morning Show since 2009, he’s been Pittsburgh’s most widely heard voice on movies for nearly two decades. A Pittsburgh native, Sean has since 2020 appeared weekly on KDKA-TV’s popular Pittsburgh Today Live talk show. He’s the co-founder of Vigilance Theater Group and an active stand-up comedian and event host. He can be found on Instagram and Twitter at @seancollierpgh.

Featured Photo Courtesy of Alisha Wetherill/Amazon

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