Demolition
2015
**½
Director: Jean-Marc Vallée
Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Naomi Watts, Chris Cooper, Judah Lewis, Heather Lind, Polly Draper, Wass Stevens, Brendan Dooling, Malcolm Goodwin, Ally Sheedy, C.J. Wilson
Davis Mitchell, a successful investment banker, loses his wife in a car accident. As he evaluates his largely loveless marriage and the emptiness he has been hiding behind, he begins to dismantle his life and possessions and forms an unlikely friendship with a woman and her teenage son. Jean-Marc Vallée's final feature is an initially compelling comedy-drama that begins to feel increasingly scripted as it progresses, eventually sinking under the weight of its heavy-handed symbolism. The screenplay by Bryan Sipe owes a great debt to American Beauty, and Jake Gyllenhaal's smug, carefree character, who finds freedom in abandoning the comforts of his existence, would fit right in with Sam Mendes' 1999 film.
