The Dig
Why else would you be playing around in the dirt while the rest of the country prepares for war? Cause it means something
May Brown
Summary:
The Dig is based on a true story that occurs just before World War 2. Basil Brown is hired by Mrs. Pretty to excavate the mounds situated behind her home. They struggle to agree which mound to dig up, as Mrs. Pretty doesn’t want to pay to have them all explored. Although Mrs. Pretty has a gut feeling about one of the mounds, Basil chooses another one and sticks with it until he gets trapped by the dirt. At this point he reluctantly agrees to switch and the real story begins
Characters:
The Dig features two main characters: Basil Brown and Edith Pretty. Brown is an excavator; however, he has no formal training. He was instead trained by his father, who was trained by his father before him. Even without formal training, Brown is a capable individual who is a master in his craft. He is able to deduce the antiquity of objects better than even professional archeologists. Edith Pretty, on the other hand, is the woman who hired Brown to excavate on her land. Pretty is a widow and lives in a big house with her son. Although she puts on a brave front, Pretty suffers from heart problems that stemmed from her childhood.
Sebastian: 8.2/10
Coming into this movie I had no idea what it was about other than it was historical in some way. What I received was a slow yet interesting film that explored multiple different historical periods while providing good characters. The acting in this film was some of the best I have seen in a movie released this year with solid performances from both Ralph Fiennes and Carey Mulligan. Ralph Fiennes plays Basil Brown who is an excavator who helps unearth the burial ship that becomes so famous. He is just a man who loves what he does but would like to receive some recognition for his hard work. Carey Mulligan plays Edith Pretty who is a widow who owns the land where the Anglo-Saxon ship is found and she hires Basil to excavate the area. She is just generally fascinated by what could be discovered but she also faces a sickness that is slowly killing her which causes her to worry for her son. The rest of the cast also do great jobs with their roles and I would say no one does a bad job. What makes this story all the more interesting is that it is based on a true story and it is not a well-known story so it makes it new for the audience. The looming threat of the second world war adds a gloomy feel to the film but also makes it feel as though there is some urgency to get the excavation done before the war really starts. What made this film work for me is the well written and acted characters that draw you in and the general intrigue about their findings. The only problem I had with the film is that it is slow especially at the beginning but it picks up after the dig really begins.
All in all, I thought this was a solid historical drama that if you are in the right mood I would recommend. So hop on Netflix and see what you think.
Nathanyal: 8.0/10
The Dig is a movie that was based on a true story and was realized a lot better than the last based on a true story we have reviewed in Penguin Bloom. Overall, this movie was good and an enjoyable watch. Now, the first thing to note about this movie is that it has a slow start until about halfway when the excavation bears some fruit from their labour. After that point, the story gets better and enjoyable to watch. It is important to note that those with some knowledge in history will understand the significance of the discovery. I really enjoyed hearing about WWII and how it played into the story. And I also really enjoyed the discovery and its role in history. The characters as well, fit some nice roles and were decently developed. There were some characters on the side that weren’t explored as much, however, they weren’t central to the story, so their development wasn’t as needed.
Overall, this was a pretty solid movie. Besides a slow start, it has a good story after the halfway point and the characters were actually enjoyable to watch. For those who have an interest in history, I’m sure this will pique your interest.
Austin: 8.0/10
The Dig lacks pace, but it is still super interesting. It is based on a true story just like Penguin Bloom, but it is head and shoulders above Penguin Bloom. Where it lacks in high energy, it makes up for in strong characters. The writing is eloquent and really well done. It portrays the times, as well as keep the viewer involved emotionally and mentally with the movie. The plot is also very interesting. Although it’s slow, the plot contains a lot of events that make this a really entertaining movie.
This movie really relies on the characters to draw you in and create meaning out of a slow plot. This movie probably could have been an hour and a half with some better pacing, but it doesn’t feel overly lengthy either. Each of the main characters serves a purpose and has at least a minor backstory. This makes such a huge impact because this movie would have been a snooze-fest if the characters sucked. I felt like I knew the characters, and I kind of got a gut feeling as to what they were thinking or what they were going to do next. This was both good and bad. It was good because the only reason for this was really good character development, but it was bad because it made the plot predictable. There were very few true surprise events, maybe that added to the slow feeling, and the ending was predictable.
This is a decent movie, with an interesting plotline and some great characters. My only negative takeaways are that it is very slow, and the movie as a whole feels predictable. If that doesn’t bother you, I’d go check this one out on Netflix!
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