Movie Reviews

Review in a Hurry:  A sweet but supermellow tale that needs a shot of espresso on the side to keep things lively. Unfortunately, a shot of espresso is not included with price of admission.

The Bigger Picture:  Diggers is another quaint addition to the school of coming-of-age films, this one set in the 1970s and involving various working-class clam-digging denizens living along the coast of Long Island. Siblings Hunt (a sexy Paul Rudd) and Gina (Maura Tierney) lose their dad to old age, and in the meantime, South Shell, a big-time competitor, is horning in on the independent diggers' watery territory. Can you smell the big life changes from a mile away?

It's only a matter of time till the big "talking aloud to dead parent's grave/urn/picture" moment appears—you can set your watch to it. Indie director Katherine Dieckmann has a sensitive touch with dicey situations, though, which in Diggers include shouting matches during a funeral and plenty of pivotal scenes filmed on water.

Every actor here also makes their sometimes contrived characters distinct and real. Standing out in particular with a rugged handsomeness is Ron Eldard as womanizer Jack, and Ken Marino as Frankie, a beleaguered family guy who can't keep up with the bills and lashes out with both love and anguish at his brood. The results are as comical as they are sobering.

Diggers is packed with bright stars and a completely relatable plot, but it's terribly slow and deliberate, like a lazy summer day on the beach. Granted, it's a film about life lessons, and those take a while to sink in, but the audience only has ninety minutes to figure it all out. Without a shot in the arm of a mild dose of adrenaline, Diggers is merely good, not great.

The 180—a Second Opinion:  Good cast, likable characters, a story a lot of folks can identify with—Diggers isn't bringing anything new to the table, but it's a solid effort from a talented director.