Demolición

I'm the kind of guy who buries everything deep down. If someone close to me died, you wouldn't know it unless I told you. If I got fired or failed a class, my general demeanor wouldn't change enough to be noticeable. I internalize everything, burying it deep down inside and doing my best to ignore until eventually, it just goes away or the world solves the problem for me. It's a quietly destructive system of dealing with hardships, but from my experience I think I would prefer it to the alternate, more vocal and public approach. People often deem this method unhealthy, something I vehemently disagree with. I'm a put together individual, relatively mature and pretty steadfast in my fundamental beliefs and morality, especially considering I'm 19. Demolition is one of the first films I've seen that seemed to reflect my methods for dealing with stress (on some level anyways) that didn't ultimately indict them. I loved it.

As a film, Demolition is a quiet powerhouse of emotion. Jake Gyllenhaal continues to justify his standing as one of the finest actors working right now, giving a quiet and darkly comedic performance that is absolutely fundamental to the success of the film. Naomi Watts, an incredible actress in her own right, seems a bit off kilter and awkward, but so is the character she is playing so I have no issues with her work here either. Jean-Marc Vallee's direction here is great as well, weaving a sort of confused story together through effective editing and a fundamental loyalty to the subdued mentality of it's protagonist. A quick look at RottenTomatoes and I see that many are calling this a "slog", or a film that doesn't necessarily reflect the tragedy of it's narrative. But Demolition takes place within Gyllenhaal's head, attempting to cinematically represent the process of internalizing grief and strife, which I feel inherently lends itself to a subdued atmosphere.

But the moments that need to land do, mostly consisting of another character desperately trying to salvage any sort of emotional response from Gyllenhaal. I found the film to be profoundly relatable, perhaps the most I've ever seen in it's interpretation of grief and loss. Now let me make a few things clear. I'm 19, so I've never lost a wife, a child or a parent. I've never torn down my house or taken apart my fridge, and I've never really dealt with any stress outside of relationships (romantic and platonic), grandparents passing or dogs dying, school related stress or financial concerns. But stress is relative, and I saw myself in Gyllenhaal's journey. There was no scene with him crying himself to sleep, or breaking down at the deceased's gravestone. No constant screaming, anguish or turmoil. Life went on, and only those around him aroused any emotion following his wife's death.

It's a fundamentally human film, masquerading as an absurdist comedy while dealing with some of life's most confounding scenarios. It's a film that tracks Gyllenhaal's breakdown, bravely painted with humor and melancholy alone. And amidst that insincerity the film finds some beauty in the breakdown, as Gyllenhaal eventually finds his answers within the rubble of his old life. I can sympathize with Demolition's detractors, but personally I found something really beautiful that I hope to cling to and appreciate further as I mature. I found a film that doesn't malign my mentality towards adversity, but rather explores it and tries to understand it. It's a film with sympathy for it's conflicted protagonist, and subsequently I found sympathy for myself in there as well.

A personal favorite.

Don't go into this expecting a comedy, even though that is one of the tags on the IMDb page. Though it does have elements of dark comedy.

This is not a lighthearted movie, to say the least; yet I would describe it as powerful and very "real." It is the complete opposite of a fairy tale and the complete opposite of romantic comedies - and that is very refreshing. It will cause you to think long and hard about your own relationships. You will continue to think about the movie long after you have left the theater.

If you like thought provoking movies that have very authentic characters and story lines, then I recommend this movie for you. The movie isn't all dark, it does have it's lighthearted moments and I felt it did a great job building the emotion as the movie went on.

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

I went to see this movie without really knowing its pitch or genre. Increasingly, I feel this is the best way to enjoy a feature film, as trailers reveal more and more of the story, going as far as basically spoiling major plot points and leaving nothing to the imagination. A movie trailer should reveal as little as possible but still tease your interest. Good trailers are works of art in their own right : they have their own story and may even use footage that won't appear in the finished movie.

Anyway, all I knew about "Demolition" was that it tells the story of a guy who has to cope with the loss of his wife and, because of that title, I supposed that he was going to loose his mind and that his life was slowly going to spiral out of control. Kind of like 1993's "Falling Down" with Michael Douglas.

While it is true that there is a fair bit of demolition (literally) and quirkiness involved, ultimately this movie is about a man deconstructing his life, demolishing his prejudices in order to find his true self. Once again, Gyllenhaal truly inhabits his character and delivers a remarkable performance, almost as good as his Oscar-worthy role in "Nightcrawler" (which was inexplicably snubbed by the Academy). Gyllenhaal is slowly becoming one of the most talented actors in Hollywood these days! Although the rest of the cast is quite good -- especially the young Judah Lewis -- I'm not sure this film would have worked without him.

All in all, a strange yet interesting film. 7 out of 10.

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.