Review: Demolition

Investment banker Jake Gyllenhaal loses his whole world when his wife dies in a tragic car accident. He doesn’t take to the grieving process in the way most people would. In fact, while in front of other people he’s mostly showing a complete lack of recognition of the tragedy, he’s actually on a very destructive path. Destructive as in he’s developed an unhealthy habit of physically damaging property, sometimes not his own personal property. It starts with breaking apart small appliances. It does not end with breaking apart small appliances. His father-in-law and boss Chris Cooper is half concerned for and half embarrassed by his change in attitude. In the middle of all of this, Gyllenhaal starts up an odd relationship with single mother Naomi Watts and her wayward teen son (Judah Lewis) after writing to Watts’ vending machine company about a poor experience he had with one of their vending machines at the hospital where his wife was pronounced dead.

A slight step back for director Jean-Marc Vallee who had previously delivered a couple of successful movies, “The Dallas Buyers Club” (which I found just a smidge overrated) and especially the very persuasive “Wild”. This 2016 flick gets whatever mileage it has from an excellent performance by the always terrific Jake Gyllenhaal. Otherwise the best I can say for it is that it’s watchable and better than Vallee’s disappointingly flat “The Young Victoria”.

Jake Gyllenhaal’s an interesting and versatile actor who seems innately likeable or at least sympathetic…yet he was also “Donnie Darko”. I guess he’s really adept at making troubled people relatable or at least able to be understood. Scripted by Bryan Sipe (the Nicholas Sparks adaptation “The Choice”), the character Gyllenhaal plays and the basic topic of grief are very, very worthy. This is a guy who loses his whole world before the opening credits. Even “Southpaw” didn’t fuck with Gyllenhaal so cruelly, and it makes you sit up and take notice. However, the subject matter and the tone didn’t quite gel for me. There’s some darkly amusing things here and there, like the use of Heart’s kick-arse ‘Crazy on You’, and a priceless conversation between Gyllenhaal and Naomi Watts’ foul-mouthed kid. I just felt that the rather heightened depiction of all this for occasionally darkly comedic effect took away from what could’ve been really weighty, compelling drama. Perhaps that sounds a little like I’m chastising a film for what it’s not, rather than critiquing what it is. However, I felt that there was something really valid here about coping with grief in all the wrong ways that didn’t quite come off like it could have if it were more grounded and let’s say ‘traditionally’ told. As is, it’s only very occasionally amusing and is sometimes too heightened for me to buy into the serious drama anyway despite the sincere efforts of a very fine cast.

It’s largely due to Gyllenhaal’s talent that the audience is able to go along with what is pretty bizarre and not easily understood behaviour by his character. Chris Cooper is terrific as well as a guy whose giveashit factor towards former son-in-law Gyllenhaal gets severely tested. After a while though, I just couldn’t buy what I was seeing, let alone deal with the wrongheaded tone. I don’t have a problem with films mixing comedy and tragedy, but this one doesn’t find the right mix, the mix here takes you out instead of drawing you in.

I wanted to like this film, and the cast certainly can’t be faulted, as everyone is very fine. However, a poor choice of tone leads to a potentially affecting story being not quite as well-told as it could’ve been.

Rating: C+