Digging for Fire - B

Rated R, 85 minutes

"Digging for Fire" is one of those small, independent gems of a movie that explores relationships in a familiar but insightful way. The well-acted, low-budget dramedy is well-cast, funny and explores what happens to a relationship when the unexpected happens. The film follows the discovery of a bone and a gun which sends husband and wife Tim and Lee (Jake Johnson and Rosemarie DeWitt), each full of doubts about their future and anxiety about the present, on separate adventures over the course of a weekend. Directed, produced and co-written (along with lead actor Johnson from the TV show "New Girl"), by Joe Swanberg ("Drinking Buddies"), whose star is on the rise, "Digging for Fire" is a familiar but affecting, often funny tale of relationships and marriage. The proflic Swanberg is becoming the next, low-budget Christopher Guest, as he continues to make small, quality films; his usual themes and cast are in place in "Digging," and he mines similar themes from his other movies, this time about a couple who take a short sabbatical from each other to discover if they truly need each other. The great cast, especially Johnson and DeWitt, are wholly believable, and watch for a stellar supporting cast including Orlando Bloom, Mike Birbiglia, Chris Messina, Brie Larson, Sam Rockwell and Anna Kendrick, among many others, who help in the discovery. Of course, the part with the bones and digging is just a metaphor for self-discovery, and the backdrop for some the adventure that our relationships take us on (in this case, a pool party, a fight in a restaurant, and lots of dirt). At only 85 minutes, "Digging for Fire" is a fun and quick exploration, and as you wade through the last predictable act, you have a sense of where it's, but it's a satisfying, amusing look at what it takes for marriages and relationships to survive.