Demolition

Overview

"For some reason, everything has become a metaphor," newly widowed investment banker Davis Mitchell (Jake Gyllenhaal) writes in a letter to a vending machine company. Uttered in voiceover partway into Demolition, it's not just a cringe-worthy piece of dialogue designed to provide an insight into his grieving mindset. It's also a dangerous sentiment for a character in a film to express — particularly in a feature that dedicates the bulk of its running time to becoming the movie equivalent of this statement.

Davis' life has been torn apart by a car accident that claimed his wife (Heather Lind), though he managed to escape without a scratch. Barely shaken by the tragic turn of events — and clearly not visibly upset enough to satisfy his father-in-law and boss, Phil (Chris Cooper) — Davis begins to see everything around him as a reflection of his predicament. When he's not pouring his thoughts onto the page, initially trying to obtain compensation for a packet of undispensed peanut M&Ms but really just looking to share his lack of pain, he takes to dismantling the physical objects around him. A phone call from pot-smoking customer service representative Karen (Naomi Watts) proves similarly disruptive.

Director Jean-Marc Vallée might be known more for his style than his subtlety, but the aptly titled Demolition takes blatant expressions of emotional states to a new level. Gone is the evocative earnestness and thematic texture that made the Quebecois filmmaker's French-language fare such as C.R.A.Z.Y. and Café de Flore work so well, even when they veered into heavy-handed territory. Instead, it's the contemplative simplicity of his most recent English-language efforts — AIDS drama Dallas Buyers Club and soul-searcher Wild — that's on display, coupled with a fondness for obviousness.

Accordingly, Demolition proves an elegantly shot and deftly edited but ultimately empty series of scenes depicting its titular process in various forms: the initial crash, the destructive manner in which Davis behaves in the aftermath, and more than a few instances of both items and relationships being smashed to pieces, often in slow motion. While there's truth behind the broader observations Vallée is keen to stress, there are few new insights on offer. That screenwriter Bryan Sipe also penned the script for this year's Nicholas Sparks' adaptation The Choice gives an indication of the level of depth — or absence thereof.

Alas, Demolition isn't a film that can be saved by its cast either. Gyllenhaal is solid and convincingly imparts some much-needed levity, but demonstrates exactly the amount of nuance he's asked to. While it shouldn't be surprising that yet another movie about a man's attempt to find himself wastes its female talent, Watts' nothing part is still disappointing. Playing Karen's teenage son, it's actually relative newcomer Judah Lewis (TV's Game of Silence) that fares best. His story arc might be designed to increase drama, but he conveys his character's journey without resorting to the movie's favourite tool, on-screen and off: a sledgehammer.