Delayed Reaction: Digging For Fire

The Pitch: Joe Swanberg has friends he can convince to be in movies. Someone will probably wear a Chicago shirt.

A couple spend a few days apart and have their own side-journeys while they muse about relationships.

I think we've all at some point made friends with a person just because we like his other friends. We aren't sure if we like him, but hanging out with him is a good way to spend time with his friends. That's sort of how I feel about Joe Swanberg. I don't know what my opinion of him as a filmmaker is. I liked Drinking Buddies and Happy Christmas. I've seen the first season of Easy and liked individual episodes. I'm not sure how much I liked all those because of the casting though. Did I really like Happy Christmas, or did I just like seeing a movie with a self-destructive Anna Kendrick? It's telling that I haven't tracked down any of Swanberg's early "mumblecore" movies*. You know, the movies he made before he started attracting big name actors. Swanberg is even tied into the world of my beloved V/H/S series. He directed a segment, has used many of the actors from those movies, and worked with some of the other filmmakers. I really should be a Joe Swanberg fan. His proximity to things I like is uncanny, but I'm still no closer to an answer.

*Side note: He directed six movies that came out in 2011. SIX. That's absurd.

That's because I saw Digging For Fire because it had a cast including Jake Johnson, Anna Kendrick, Brie Larson, Sam Rockwell, Mike Bribiglia, Rosemarie DeWitt, Judith Light, Chris Messina, Sam Elliott - Let me catch my breathe - Melanie Lynskey, Ron Livingston, and Orlando Bloom. Of course I'm seeing that movie. The director is inconsequential.

I like the style of it. The acting is loose and improvisational. The score is weirdly noticeable. It's a little overpowering at times. Mostly I liked how it was used though. It's a movie that I think I liked more in the moment than in hindsight. 90% of it is middle class, pretty adults musing about philosophy. I don't really need a whole movie of that. To its credit, the movie is quite short, so maybe Swanberg is aware of the thinness.

Here's my theory. I've liked everything I've seen of Swanberg's so far. A lot of great actors want to work with him. He keeps getting close to conversations and stories I care about. Eventually, he's going to direct one of my favorite movies. Digging For Fire is another step closer.

Verdict: Weakly Recommend