Jean-Marc Vallée looks to continue building on the success of Dallas Buyers Club and Wild with his newest drama, starring Jake Gyllenhaal
A disturbing trend appears to be developing in Hollywood: if you play the wife of Jake Gyllenhaal…there’s a likely chance you’ll be killed at some point throughout the movie. We’ve seen this before in Southpaw, and it appears to be happening again in the newest film he stars in, Demolition. Demolition focuses on Davis, a successful investment banker who struggles after losing his wife in a tragic car crash. The trailer starts off humorously enough until the dark twist is shown and from there we’re pretty much shown Davis deconstructing his life around him to try and find the things he never noticed before.
It’s tough to figure out what exactly audiences will be getting themselves into with Demolition. Gyllenhaal is one of the top actors working today and with a supporting cast including Chris Cooper and Naomi Watts, you obviously have to take notice. But there are several red flags sticking right on up for me. While a film being cliché isn’t a bad thing, there’s times where it takes over the general atmosphere of a movie. This feels like one of those movies. I also have a bit of concern over using his wife’s death as a plot device to help him discover things he’s never noticed about life before, but I’ll hold off on criticizing that. The seeds are there for the movie to be successful, whether it is…that’s another story.
Demolition directed by Jean-Marc Vallée, written by Bryan Sipe, and stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Naomi Watts, Chris Cooper, and Judah Lewis. Demolition will be opening the Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2015, and then will have a limited release in theaters on April 8, 2016.
Davis (Jake Gyllenhaal), a successful investment banker, struggles after losing his wife in a tragic car crash. Despite pressure from his father in law Phil (Chris Cooper) to pull it together, Davis continues to unravel. What starts as a complaint letter to a vending machine company turns into a series of letters revealing startling personal admissions. Davis’ letters catch the attention of customer service rep Karen (Naomi Watts) and, amidst emotional and financial burdens of her own, the two form an unlikely connection. With the help of Karen and her son Chris (Judah Lewis), Davis starts to rebuild, beginning with the demolition of the life he once knew.
