Digger

Sent to visit his Uncle Sam (Timothy Bottoms) and Aunt Anna (Barbara Williams) so that his recently-divorced mom can enjoy a breather, maladroit Digger (Adam Hann-Byrd) initially views his vacation as a prison stretch. Sensing his vinegary Aunt is uncomfortable around him (since she's grieving for her dead child), Digger resorts to his favorite mode of escape: excavating tunnels in the direction of exotic locales. Homesick, the boy's only other source of comfort is Grandma Bea (Olympia Dukakais) whose new beau Arthur (Leslie Nielsen) is willing to include Digger on their dates. What ultimately penetrates the withdrawn child's shell is his friendship with Billy (Joshua Jackson), a terminally-ill youngster whose heart has been weakened by radiation treatments. Sharing his secret world with Digger, Billy teaches his shy pal how to escape unpleasantness through the power of the mind. During their jaunts, Billy teaches Digger how to eavesdrop on the songs of the timber trees, while Digger encourages his buddy's crush on teenage beauty Rosemary (Gabrielle Miller). Living intensely because he senses his mortality, Billy introduces his pragmatic pal to the joys of Jules Verne and draws parallels between them and the two captains in Mysterious Island. By the time Aunt Anna confronts her grief and forges a bond with her nephew, Digger has already become a convert to Billy's flights of fancy. When Billy's heart finally gives way, grief-stricken Digger overcomes his devastation and allow his playmate to live on by exercising his imagination when necessary. Living out his comrade's philosophy, Digger refuses to view Billy's death as a final goodbye.

Although DIGGER takes far too long to unfold a simple fish-out-of-water yarn, it could be argued that its leisurely pace accounts for some of the movie's magnetic pull. What this bittersweet bonding drama offers in place of a tight narrative or tear-jerking dexterity is a knack for facing the psychological dilemmas of childhood squarely without treating the participants as mini-adults. The boys' sidestep with divorce, abandonment trauma, and death isn't glossed over with cuteness, nor are the young actors cursed with the practiced sugary demeanor of Hollywood professionals. Without resorting to melodramatic massaging, DIGGER coaxes our sympathy despite its failure to better integrate Digger's impasse with his Aunt's emotional paralysis into the storyline. In the end, Billy isn't assumed into Heaven like Little Eva--his death is treated as the expected calamity it is. Perhaps the real reason for this movie's modest success is its refusal to portray the kids' fantasies too literally--events are doctored by the childrens' imagination. In movies as disparate as LAST ACTION HERO, THE RIVER PIRATES, and HEAVENLY CREATURES, filmmakers unleash adolescent fantasies that shed less light on the characters than they do on the directors' need to show off. Unassuming DIGGER doesn't push its Bad Things Happen to Good People ideology too far. And as a P.R. campaign for the rewards of reading, this gentle bubblegum opera succeeds far better than the over-emphatic PAGEMASTER. (Adult situations.) leave a comment