Review of Demolition (2016) by Junelkean — 04 Jul 2017

In “Demolition”, Jake Gyllenhaal plays a New York investment banker who becomes emotionally disturbed after he loses his beloved wife in a car accident. Everything becomes metaphorical after he demolishes many of his things including his house to then realize that he needs to rebuild himself.

Gyllenhaal continues his streak of terrific performances after “Southpaw” and “Nightcreawler”. The supporting actors include Naomi Watts and Chris Cooper who are also great, but the film lacks in story and the screenplay is convoluted. Moreover, it is easily forgotten through some mediocre scenes of the movie.

It is directed by Jean Marc-Vallèe who did “Dallas Buyers Club” with Matthew McConaughey and “Wild” with Reese Witherspoon which happens to be both movies that deal with human behavior and Oscar-worthy in performance categories. Demolition may not be as good as two of his films, but still, it offers an effective dark tone to dramedies.

VERDICT: At the end of the day, Demolition cannot decide what path it is going due to screenplay issues, but Gyllenhaal and his co-actors certainly hold praiseworthy performances.