EXCLUSIVE: John Goodman Admits Tom Cruise Film's Brutal Reviews 'Hurt'

John Goodman has confessed the brutal critical reception of Tom Cruise's latest film, Digger, was painful, revealing negative reviews had damaged the movie's prospects before audiences even had the chance to see it, RadarOnline.com can reveal.

The veteran 74-year-old actor, who plays a fictional US president in the film, said the criticism had taken an emotional toll on the production.

Directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Digger stars Cruise, 64, as an oil tycoon battling a global catastrophe after an accident at one of his Greenland drilling sites threatens Europe. Despite its reported budget of more than $160million, the movie has grossed just $50million.

Speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Goodman has now admitted: "Yeah, it, uh, it hurt."

He also suggested the negative coverage had discouraged potential audiences before the film had properly opened, adding the reviews had given people a "good reason for people to avoid it."

However, the actor insisted he remained proud of the project and had enjoyed his time working on it.

Goodman said: "I'm proud of it, and I had a ball doing it. It was a good six months out of my life."

The film has divided critics, receiving a 53% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Goodman nevertheless believes its reception could change over time, pointing to previous projects that initially struggled commercially but eventually developed loyal audiences.

He said: "I think everything I've done for the Coen brothers flopped, initially, so, who cares?"

Goodman, who shot to stardom in the sitcom Roseanne added: "I've still got people running up to me in the streets about Barton Fink, and, naturally, The Big Lebowski."

The actor also described the film's underlying message as an opportunity for audiences to reflect on their relationship with the world, despite admitting his fondness for a "big-engine car".

Director Guillermo del Toro, a friend of Iñárritu, has also defended the ambitious production amid the criticism.

Del Toro praised the film on social media, describing it as "daring, bold and Cinematically complex."

He wrote: "The film delivers in scale, ambition and reach at a theatrical screen level."

Comedian Bill Burr has also questioned the negative response, suggesting on his Monday Morning podcast "critics are out of their minds".

Actress Anne Hathaway, 43, has similarly praised the project. Writing in a review on Letterboxd, she described it as "brilliant," as well as "smart and trippy and aggressive and funny and ambitious."

Actor and filmmaker Ben Affleck, 54, has also criticised the reaction, comparing the online backlash to a "high-school bullying thing," particularly when people who have not watched a film join in with the criticism.

Speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Affleck said: "Everybody wants to celebrate this bomb as if it's the most exciting thing to happen. And you think like, it's a pretty ambitious, interesting movie made by interesting people who have talent."

Affleck, who has experienced commercial disappointments during his own career, questioned the industry's growing focus on box-office performance at the expense of creative ambition.

He said: "Everybody wants to count the money, what it lost or whatever. To me, I just think, if you punish movies that take risks, guess what you're going to get? A bunch of s----- homogenized movies."

He added: "You cannot do something interesting without taking a big swing. And that means you're going to sometimes look bad."