Demolition

As the film begins, Davis (Jake Gyllenhaal) and his wife are in the car and she's driving. Their conversation seems mundane...when suddenly there's an accident and she's killed.

How Davis responds to her death is really strange...though not completely hard to believe. Instead of focusing on his feelings, Davis is mechanical in how he looks at things....analyzing and thinking with zero emotion. A few of his quirks include taking apart machines around the home and office...just to see how they work as well as sending a string of long meandering letters to a vending machine company...because he lost $1.50 in one of their machines! He obviously is compartmentalizing....in other words, locking away his feelings and closing the door on them in his mind. This does not mean he doesn't think about his wife...but when he does, it's in a very disconnected and strangely analytical fashion.

During the course of this strange nervous breakdown, his letters have an impact on the customer service rep who has been receiving them. Out of the blue, she calls him and they form a friendship....a very tentative and strange friendship. And, you start to realize that both of them are damaged souls...as is her very odd son. What's next? See the film.

Like so much of Jake Gyllenhaal's work, this film is incredibly strange and hard to predict. This actually is why I sought out this film.... I love how this actor takes risks and plays the most unusual actors. If you don't believe this, consider SOURCE CODE, NIGHTCRAWLER and BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN. These are NOT typical Hollywood releases and almost defy description...which I appreciate. After all, with over 26,000 reviews to my credit, there does often seem to be a sameness to a lot of films.

Apart from being different, is it worth seeing? And, is it any good? Yes, though I don't see the film as the type everyone would like, that's for sure. In many ways, the movie actually reminds me of Adam Sandler's REIGN OVER ME, a highly neglected film about a man who lost his family and simply refuses to come to terms with it. Both movies really make you think...both are also a bit unpleasant to watch but well worth seeing.

I think this is a brave movie...one worth watching. However, it doesn't have a nice, clean, happy ending....and I could understand folks not enjoying the movie as a result.

Choppy editing issues, But superb.

For starters the film has some incredible acting...Jake is utterly convincing in his role as a selfish and seemingly heartless individual devoid of emotion until tragedy entails. The pick up in his thought process is a slow but necessary approach as his mental health issues pick up subtle but convincing time frames and the viewer is left a 50/50 decision on whether you actually like him or not. This is no mean feat for an actor with such a tragic story line and he pulls it off brilliantly.

I would however of liked the mental health issues that surround the process of grief further explored and a stronger message to go out to the audience that grief manifests in so many individual ways that you are never wrong with the way you feel...Its a very precious and intimate individual process.

Naomi Watts character is a little bizarre and almost unnecessary in my view but I will not spoil anything here.

A good just under two hours spent in my opinion with a a lot of thinking to continue for the rest of the evening. A solid 7/10 from me.

I feel like it had so much potential in the story and characters. As it is, it's just a very jumbled mess, with some really questionable editing. I do find Jake Gyllenhaal's character really intriguing though, and I thought he did some really strong work. I just wish it had a better grasp on the characters. I can't say I didn't find it very watchable though, and I would say it's better than many of the reviews suggest. I hope Jake can get some end-of-the-year traction for this, but I really doubt it. He's endlessly fascinating and very mesmerizing, and definitely carries the film more than the screenplay does. Not sure, perhaps this is a film only a select few will enjoy.

I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. Opens with a car crash that takes the life of Jake Gyllenhaal's character's wife. From there this movie swung in a different direction than I thought. For me it seems to be about how someone deals with grief. Everyone around his character wants/expects him to be acting in a certain way. His wife's death has changed his outlook on life and those around him eventually become less comfortable with his behaviour. I really enjoyed Jake's performance. His character is weird (Not Nightcrawler weird), funny, angry and ultimately just figuring out how to grieve. For a movie I was expecting to lean into the sentimentality it played out in a different way that I feel is a bit more true to real life. It didn't win him any awards but I think the acting in this places it as one of the better movies Jake has done.

I am observing closely Jake Gyllenhaal's acting career and he's giving the best performances in all his films. He's one of top 5 best actor of our generation. So technically I love all his films, especially in the recent years and tell me who won't if they love good stories and performance. I expected this to be another excellent film and yes it was, but not that great.

What he has given to his fans and film viewers is the promise and fulfilled it all the way. So even an average film can automatically become a better one. This film was based on the one of the blacklisted script, but Gyllenhaal's presence made all the difference along with the wonderful director.

It was the story of a man who lost his wife in a car accident. His way of grieving is what the film narrates. He realises that he's not able feel a thing when everyone around does, so he decides to make search for the answers and so the bizarre journey begins. The casting was good, but it was all about the Gyllenhaal's role. I like Naomi Watts, but for the first time she looked old to me. And the others did not have much screenspace, except that new face boy who was decent.

I think not everyone would enjoy it, it is a weird story of almost a weird person, so you would easily get it. You must need to be a patience, besides it is a dark comedy. You might wonder why the title was named 'Demolition', the films gives a strange demonstration for that in a good way. It is not like a must see, but totally worth for Gyllenhaal alone. I can't say it should have been better, because there's nothing to get better, everything was at its best.

7/10