Diggers (2007)

DIGGERS, a coming-of-age film set in 1970s Long Island, New York, follows the fortunes of four working-class friends, Hunt (Paul Rudd), Jack (Ron Eldard), Cons (Josh Hamilton), and Lozo (Ken Marino). The men are the last generation of independent clam-diggers, and are slowly being pushed out by a corporation that has settled in the area. The twin threats of job loss and possible financial instability shake up the isolated world they live in, and tension starts to build for everyone. Although it's clear that they all share the burden of continuing their heritage as clam-diggers, each has their own identity: Jack is the perpetual playboy, Lozo is the family man, Cons is a free-spirit philosopher, and Hunt is a photographer. But when his father dies while on the job, Hunt is struck by the reality of his own mortality. After a few heart-to-hearts with his friends and his sister Gina (Maura Tierney), and a romantic fling with a visiting young and trendy Manhattanite, Zoey (Lauren Ambrose), Hunt becomes enlightened, and reminded that his life is his own.

While the film's plot is minimalist, DIGGERS (which was written by Marino) provides incredibly rich characters, and really captures their struggles and emotionally driven qualities. It helps that the material is delivered by an outstanding ensemble cast that also includes Sarah Paulson as Julie, Lozo's wife. The heady dramatic material of the film is frequently offset by healthy doses of comic relief, which are sprinkled in when necessary, adding further shades to director Katherine Dieckmann's impressive cinematic palette.