In Digger, the new film from Birdman director Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Tom Cruise plays an oil tycoon named Digger Rockwell. Rockwell's drilling breaks off an ice shelf, and it drifts toward Europe. He then tries to spin the disaster and cast himself as the man who can save the world. Critics posted their reviews Tuesday at noon Eastern. By late afternoon the film stood at 53% on Rotten Tomatoes from 106 reviews, and at 44 on Metacritic. Collider says that's the lowest Rotten Tomatoes score of any Iñárritu film. The film cost at least $125 million, and Warner Bros. opens it in U.S. theaters on Friday. The studio posted an ad an hour before the reviews went up. It read "Same film, different truth" and put "Masterpiece" next to "Unpleasant."

1. It's a Daring Satire, and Cruise Is Terrific in It

Critics at the London Standard, Deadline, Collider, and the BBC call it a daring satire and praise Cruise's performance.

This is his best performance since Magnolia. London Standard critic Nick Howells gave it five stars and called it "his best performance since 1999's Magnolia." He calls it "audacious, risky, terrific fun and — for at least half the planet — the wildest ride you'll get this year." Collider critic Victoria Luxford gave it a 9 out of 10. She calls it "hilarious, infuriating, confusing, but always powerful."

The big risks pay off. Deadline chief film critic Pete Hammond calls it "an ambitious satire that entertains, takes chances, sparks arguments and is thrillingly alive as cinema." He says Cruise gives a "performance for the ages," and that "love it or hate it, it should not be ignored."

It works as a climate satire. BBC critic Nicholas Barber gave it four stars and wrote, "Personally, I loved it." He also wrote, "Judged purely a satire, then, Digger is powerfully resonant." But he predicts that "most people won't go to see it."

2. But It's Smug, Unfunny, and Full of Itself

Critics at The Hollywood Reporter, The Guardian, TIME, Variety, TheWrap, and The Irish Times say the film lectures and isn't funny.

The film lectures and isn't funny. Variety critic Owen Gleiberman writes that "the real problem" is that "'Digger' isn't funny." He calls it a "ponderous absurdist lecture." TheWrap critic William Bibbiani writes, "It's the kind of movie about evil billionaires that evil billionaires would enjoy, which makes it the worst kind of movie about evil billionaires."

Critics shouldn't go easy on it just because it's about climate. Guardian critic Peter Bradshaw calls it "the most disappointing film of the year." He says there may be a "tacit consensus" that because a big mainstream movie is "talking about the biggest issue of our time," there's "a duty to suspend critical objection." He still finds it "glib and overblown." TIME critic Stephanie Zacharek calls the film so "thematically clumsy" that "it comes off as liberalism's worst enemy."

Calling it a "big swing" is too generous. Hollywood Reporter chief film critic David Rooney calls it a climate satire "so smug and bombastic it makes Adam McKay's Don't Look Up seem almost innocuous." He says no film since director Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopolis has shown the difference between a "big swing and hubristic folly" this clearly. He says to "blame Iñárritu and his co-writers, not Cruise." Irish Times critic Donald Clarke says the phrase "big swing" is "a warning that a film-maker is slipping into epic indulgence."

3. Still, Cruise Works Even Where the Film Doesn't

Critics at Empire, IndieWire, Awards Radar, the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, and AP say the film falls short of its ambitions but Cruise delivers, and some are glad a studio made it.

The film falls short, but Cruise doesn't. Empire critic Olly Richards gave it two stars and says "Digger doesn't dig very deep," but "Cruise emerges with a win." IndieWire critic David Ehrlich gave the film a C+, but says it's a "thrill" to watch Cruise in such a strange role. Awards Radar critic Joey Magidson calls the film "a mess, though rarely a boring one." He says, "if you see it, you're seeing it for Cruise, who is very good, and to see what Iñárritu has up his sleeve." USA Today critic Brian Truitt says the film "can't quite nail all of its lofty ambitions," but Cruise "can still put on an acting masterclass when he wants."

It's good a studio made something this risky, even if it's messy. Los Angeles Times critic Amy Nicholson writes, "while I don't entirely love this strange comedy, I'm giddy that it's lurched into existence." She says even the best satires of the century "initially stumbled at the box office." AP critic Jake Coyle, quoted by People, calls it "an of-the-moment big swing that's unlikely to come along again anytime soon."

Where This Lands

Howells, Hammond, and Barber say Digger is a daring satire that works, and Howells calls it Cruise's best performance since Magnolia. Rooney, Bradshaw, and Gleiberman say it's a smug, unfunny lecture, and Bradshaw says its climate message doesn't earn it a pass. Richards, Ehrlich, and Magidson say the film fails but Cruise doesn't, and Nicholson is glad a studio took the risk. Awards watchers disagree on what the split means for Cruise's Oscar chances. Variety chief awards editor Clayton Davis wrote last week that a divided reaction "might be what his campaign needs." Gold Derby's experts cut his odds of a Best Actor nomination after the first reactions last week, and now give him about a 63% chance. Digger opens in U.S. theaters Friday.

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