Demolition

People handle grieving in many faceted ways, whereas it becomes a process all must go through when a loved one passes away. Hollywood has produced many films centering around this very premise, so when "Demolition" came along, it could be just another in the line of one grieving the loss of another. However,once you watch this film, it puts grieving at an altogether different level.

Davis (Jake Gyllenhaal), a successful investment banker, struggles after losing his wife, Julia (Heather Lind) in a tragic car crash. Despite pressure from his father-in-law, Phil (Chris Cooper), to pull it all 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 representative 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. What possibly could Davis have to do to get him through this particular grieving process?

Others to round out the cast are C.J. Wilson as Carl, Karen's boyfriend, Polly Draper as Margot, Davis' mother-in-law, Malachy Cleary as Davis' dad, Debra Monk as Davis' mom, Wass Stevens as Jimmy, Blaire Brooks as Amy, Ben Cole as Steven and Brendan Dooling as Todd.

This was intensely directed by Jean-Marc Vallee ("Liste noire" '95, "Los Locos" '97, "C.R.A.Z.Y." '05, "The Young Victoria" '09, "Café de Flore" '11, "Dallas Buyers Club" '13, "Wild" '14) plus TV. As with some other directors I've mentioned in other reviews, this filmmaker certainly has a very eclectic resume which I can certainly respect. While I can understand why other directors stick to what they do best, it is incredibly brave and gutsy to see other directors, as with this one, go out on that proverbial limb, especially when it turns out to be a success. The subtleness of the character  of Davis transformed so slowly, but so effectively that it was amazing to see. Of course when an actor as consummate as Gyllenhaal is, no wonder Davis was able to show that slow transformation. It was written by Bryan Sipe ("A Million Miles" '01, "Alpha Mail" '07, "The Choice" '16) plus a short. This writer, considering there isn't a ton of experience under his belt, wrote an interesting script. He certainly has evolved with each screenplay he's created, not that this is Academy Award caliber, but I would be very interested to see what he writes in the future. This has a bit of choppiness in it, but all in all, he created a nice tight script that is certainly not like any other film dealing with the grieving process as this is.

This is a very good mixture of drama and comedy, albeit the comedy is subtle. Because when something like grieving is involved, some comedy relief is imperative for its audience to get through an otherwise grim process. It's not a film that was produced for a mass audience appeal, however if watching someone collapse and slowly rebuild their life back due to a loved one's death, this is the film for you.

Out of 4 Stars: 3.5                                     Rated: R                                    101mins.