Demolition, 2016.
Directed by Jean-Marc Vallée.
Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Naomi Watts, Chris Cooper and Judah Lewis.
SYNOPSIS:
As an investment banker struggles after losing his wife in a tragic car crash, his increasingly confessional series of letters to a vending machine company catch the attention of a customer service rep with whom he forms an unlikely connection.
Following the critical success of Dallas Buyers Club and Wild, Vallée’s latest film Demolition is a darkly comic, and watchable examination of grief. The film follows emotionally stunted Davis Mitchell (Gyllenhaal) who after his wife dies in a car accident starts to literally dismantle his entire life in order to get in touch with his emotions and learn who he really is.
With a slew of brilliant performances over recent years (Nightcrawler was criminally ignored by the Academy), Gyllenhaal delivers another complex and multi-layered performance. Davis is a tough character to play. He’s not overly likeable, he freely admits he didn’t think he loved his wife or knew her at all. He is an emotional vacuum that is inexplicably fascinating to watch. Demolition has lots of flaws but Gyllenhaal’s dark and at times hilarious performance is subtly brilliant.
The same can’t be said for the various clichés that are shoe horned into what could have been a unique study of grief. To deal with his feelings, Davis starts writing to a vending machine company and venting his frustration over the fact that his peanut M&Ms got stuck. What starts is an offbeat friendship/romance between Davis and Customer Service worker Karen (Watts). This had the potential to be a disturbing and dark take on Sleepless in Seattle, but instead we get zero chemistry between the two leads when they meet and a complete lack of realism. The story then sharply turns away from this and introduces Karen’s teenage son Chris (a solid performance from Lewis). What follows is a typical “frustrated teen helps frustrated older man sort out life” scenario. Whilst there are some hugely entertaining moments – namely the destruction of Davis’ house and a frank conversation about sexuality in a hardware store – it feels like we’ve seen this story a million times before.
Demolition is beautifully filmed. Rapid edits following the crash work perfectly and the constant flashes Davis sees of his wife bring the message of the film to the forefront. It is also hugely funny throughout. Gyllenhaal dancing down the streets of New York is always going to be entertaining, but there are subtler moments of humour as Davis starts to literally take apart light fittings, public toilets, until eventually demolishing his house. A debate over whether Crazy on You by Heart is a sad song is also entertaining.
Demolition is an interesting blend of twisted humour and reality that could have worked brilliantly without all the other elements seemingly checking a tick box of what needs to be in a drama about grief.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Helen Murdoch is a freelance writer – Follow me on Twitter
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Originally published May 7, 2016. Updated April 15, 2018.
