There is a scene in “Diggers” in which two old friends sit around smoking an illegal substance and talking about life issues. As they talk, one of them carefully builds a snack treat consisting of a Ritz cracker, a banana slice and peanut butter, topped with honey and a raisin.
We know the recipe because we watch him create each little hors d’oeuvre. That’s the kind of movie “Diggers” is: low-key, funny and observant about the little things people do to get by.
The setting is a Long Island seaside village in 1976. The local clammers have been crowded out by a soulless conglomerate, and the thirtysomething locals are failing in the business their fathers enjoyed for years.
As though to drive the point home, Hunt (Paul Rudd) loses his father in an early scene. He and sister Gina (Maura Tierney), who’s coming off a breakup with a man known to all as a one-word expletive, will try to figure out their aimless lives.
Hunt has three old pals who have their own solutions to the recession. Cons (Josh Hamilton) is a pot dealer and a deep thinker. Frankie (Ken Marino) has five kids and an obnoxious manner. Jack (Ron Eldard) is a serial womanizer.
They’re all clam-diggers, with boats that bring up fewer and fewer bivalves every day. Something’s got to change.
It will, although “Diggers” isn’t interested in soap opera or group hugs or massive changes. It does believe that life is a comedy, and there are many funny moments in the film.
The script is by Ken Marino, who also plays Frankie. He was a member of the comedy group The State, and was in the “Wet Hot American Summer” crowd. “Diggers” is perhaps more thoughtful than one might expect from Marino’s resume, but he grew up in a clam-digging Long Island family and drew on family memory.
The cast is full of good people who know where the humor is, even in the midst of serious stuff (a scene set at a funeral is one of the funniest in the film). Paul Rudd, of “40-Year-Old Virgin” fame, is a go-to guy for comedy played straight (or drama played funny), and makes a fine anchor here.
Maura Tierney (of “E.R.”) is unbeatable, although she doesn’t have quite enough material here to satisfy diehard Tierney fans, and Lauren Ambrose makes a suitably cool love interest for Hunt. Sarah Paulson holds her own as Frankie’s long-suffering wife – not an easy task, given Marino’s hilariously boorish performance.
Director Katherine Dieckmann creates the right mood for these actors to create a naturalistic vibe, and the locations ring grungy and true. In short, just the kind of overlooked movie that really deserves a good look.
Paul Rudd in “Diggers.”
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