Digging for Cred

DIGGING FOR FIRE (B-minus) - OK, so Joe Swanberg can assemble an A-list cast of indie actors. And he's always had a knack for drafting a tight script full of natural dialogue. But where are we?

His previous three films have averaged a C grade, though I've never considered any of them a waste of time. Here he's got a fine idea -- a struggling couple has separate weekend adventures -- but he never gets things far enough off the ground.

Tim (the rather bland Jake Johnson from "Drinking Buddies," TV's "New Girl") and Lee (the endlessly appealing Rosemarie DeWitt) are in a bit of a rut, focusing their energies on their pampered 3-year-old boy, Jude (Swanberg yet again foisting his big-headed toddler on viewers). They take a house-sitting trip to the swanky upstate home of one of Lee's clients. While exploring the grounds, Tim finds a rusted handgun and a bone. Lee goes off to visit her parents (Sam Elliott and Judith Light), dropping off the kid so that she can have a gals' night out with an old friend (our gal Melanie Lynskey) who bails on her. So Lee, giddily child-free, heads out on the town. On his own, Tim starts excavating the property, in search of some sort of mystery.

Separated, Tim and Lee are presented with tests of their fidelity. Tim hosts a party with his buddies, and pretty young Max (Brie Larson) tags along and eventually spends the night. Tim takes her on a dinner date, and they go back to the house. She joins him in the dig, clad in short shorts and combat boots. Lee, meanwhile, has a meet-cute in a pub with Ben (a charming Orlando Bloom), and they embark on a "Before Sunrise" odyssey.

The film is weighted in metaphor. Tim's digging is a lesson in leaving well-enough alone and tamping down your deepest desires. Johnson is limited as an actor, but he plays well off of Larson, who is one of the most interesting actors around, though Swanberg doesn't really know how to handle her character. In fact, the director has an embarrassment of riches here. In addition to the fine actors mentioned already, we're treated to Mike Birbiglia in a wonderfully deadpan performance as Tim's pal (and conscience); Sam Rockwell as another buddy with substance-abuse and anger-management issues; the compelling Jane Adams in one throwaway scene; and Chris Messina, Jenny Slate, Ron Livingston and even Anna Kendrick (who starred in "Happy Christmas").

It's an impressive production. But the story is just a little too thin. There's not enough at stake here, and fears of a trite ending are realized.

Joe Swanberg has talent and friends. But he's been making average movies the past few years. He's overdue to either break out or fade out. We haven't given up on him yet.