Alejandro González Iñárritu’s new film, "Digger," marks a significant departure for Tom Cruise, offering what some consider his most interesting movie in 15 years. However, it remains to be seen if this will ignite the career renaissance Cruise appears to be seeking.

In "Digger," Cruise’s portrayal is a far cry from his usual action-hero persona. He struts, swears, and swaggers, speaking loudly in various registers, including screaming, hollering, roaring, and bellowing. He plots and purrs, stretches his fingers, and gently pats a prosthetic belly, designed to make him appear as a man in his mid-60s. (Cruise himself is 64.) This performance sees him reaching for something other than the skids of an escaping helicopter. While not necessarily his best acting, it is certainly the most acting Cruise has done in a long time, and his first film in nearly 15 years that isn't an action movie. This period began after "Rock of Ages," a 2012 musical that even his co-star Alec Baldwin described as "horrible" and a "complete disaster." Furthermore, "Digger" is the only film in a long time where Cruise isn't playing a hero, either regular or anti. He hasn't been a funny bad guy since "Tropic Thunder" or a bad-guy bad guy since "Collateral."

Cruise himself acknowledges this shift, recently stating in a rare long-form interview that "Digger" "is the culmination of all my skills…. I was so excited to be able to have this character. It’s the most challenging character ever."

In "Digger," Cruise stars as Digger Rockwell, a Southern-fried oilman characterized by a George W. Bush-esque accent, large prosthetic jowls, and an even larger personality. He’s the type of individual who would compare a large crack in the polar ice shelf to his own penis, a man with no friends who treats his family with indifference, reserving his affection for a Mr. Bigglesworth–esque cat that is halfway to death's door. He is the kind of person who could, and does, wreck the world with a flick of his finger, without experiencing any remorse or consequence.

"Digger" follows this greedy, careless character as his company inadvertently triggers a disaster with global repercussions, then, by accident, causes another. The film is loud, filled with loud performances from Cruise, John Goodman as a bumbling, necrotic, Trump-coded president, an uncommonly shrill Sandra Hüller as Digger’s constantly furious half-sister, Michael Stuhlbarg as Goodman’s simpering beta vice president, and Riz Ahmed as the honorable, doomed scientist Ganesh, the only sane person in this chaotic environment (who is also yelling). Despite its big-name actors, gorgeously detailed sets, and topical subject matter, "Digger" is fundamentally a screwball comedy that aims for the tone of "Dr. Strangelove" but ultimately lands closer to "Idiocracy."