Demolition, Review: Shun

If ever there was a practical example of ‘deconstruction for the sake of reconstruction’ being taken too literally, here is one. Our protagonist, a tormented and meandering soul, cannot cope with the loss of his wife, which tragedy has benumbed him. So, he remembers what his father-in-law once said, that in order to rebuild something, you have to demolish it first. His father is a more than sane investment banker and his own boss (which means that our hero, too, is not the kind you would derisively call ‘Dumbo’), but the son-in-law fails to see any symbolism in the advice, and proceeds to implement it in the letter. He first picks up a tool-kit and uses them to take appliances apart. Not satisfied with these minor ‘breaks’, he starts using a hammer and then a sledge-hammer, on walls and furniture. Heavy duty drills come next. Hilarious? How I wish it was!

Demolition is about 38 year-old Davis Mitchell (Jake Gyllenhaal), a successful investment banker. It begins with him absent-mindedly listening to his wife Julia (Heather Lind) while she drives them to work. Suddenly, a car crashes into theirs. Both are hospitalised. He sustains only minor injuries, Julia, who bore the brunt of the accident, dies after admission. Shattered, but very hungry too, Davis tries to use the hospital’s machine to get a candy packet, only to have the candy bar trapped on the metal shelf. He inserts many coins, but nothing comes out. After a hospital staffer tells him that they cannot help, Davis sends a letter to the vending- machine’s customer service division, complaining, and asking for a refund. But what starts as a “You owe me 75 cents” letter turns into a series of long confessionals and background info, about how he never really loved his wife, and how he has no idea what to do with his life anymore.

The customer service rep who receives these letters is Karen (Naomi Watts), a pot-addict with anxiety issues and a 17 year-old son, Chris (Judah Lewis), who uses M-80 firecrackers to drive home his point during oral presentations at school. Karen falls in love with Davis’s letters, and by association, falls in love with Davis. She starts to follow him around town, eventually calling him on phone, but avoiding a meeting. They finally meet, and Davis is enamoured with her. During this time, Davis creates an unhealthy desire to demolish things. Doesn’t matter if it’s an espresso machine, a vase, or his own house. He seemingly needs to destroy whatever he comes across, even as his in-laws, Phil (Chris Cooper) and Margot (Polly Draper) want to institute a scholarship in Julia’s memory.

Brian Sipe (some indie work, a film called The Choice) has written the screenplay for this film, which was featured in the 2007 Blacklist ("most liked" unmade scripts of the year). It is easy to cock a snook and say that it deserved to remain unmade, but that would be unfair. There is a lot of black humour in this ‘Blacklisted’ (incidentally, director Jean-Marc Vallée had made a film called Blacklist; talk of co-incidences!) film, only the actors and director were unable to convey or trigger it. All of them are taking their jobs too seriously. A major part of film comedy comes from action/reaction, timing and irreverence. The jokes and gags are all there. Language-based, situational and farcical genres line the narrative. I laughed out loud at least six times during the screening. So what is the problem? Only one of the 19 other reviewers watching the film found anything funny. In Demolition, you need to ‘not sympathise’ with the characters, no matter what pain they are going through, and just laugh at what they are saying or doing. And that is not likely to happen.

Jean-Marc Vallée (Dallas Buyers Club, The Young Victoria, Wild) has an unpredictable script that can only work as a black comedy. He had made a popular comic film early in his career, called, Stereotypes. This time, the genre eludes his grasp. There are some deft touches, like the opening car accident and the way Davis’s late wife’s pregnancy is discussed between him and his in-laws. For the rest, the film is largely script and emotion-driven. Maybe he was hoping to keep it subtle, unlike the Hindi films of the 1940s-80s, wherein every emotion, including comedy, used to be heavily augmented by suitable, loud, background music. Sadly for Vallée, a Canadian, the experiment has failed.

Demolition is the third film to bring together Jake Gyllenhaal and Chris Cooper, after Jarhead (2005) and October Sky (1999). They make a fine duo. Jacob Benjamin Gyllenhaal, 35 (Brokeback Mountain, Nightcrawler, Southpaw) previously played a man dealing with the tragic death of his wife in Southpaw (2015) and Moonlight Mile (2002). No issues with that. The issue is: you did not need an over-intense, over-depressed, over-grieving, simmering maniac performance for this role. Perhaps you did not need Jake Gyllenhaal at all, perhaps you needed a Johnny Depp or even a Jim Carrey. No excuse, though. Naomi Watts (You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, The Impossible, Birdman, The Divergent Series: Insurgent and Allegiant) plays the female counterpart of Davis, in a much more understated way. Judah Lewis (Point Break) comes across as a really messed up teenager and the philosophical discussion between Davis and him about the F word is both crude and corny, and the laughter it elicits is more derisive than appreciative.

Chris Cooper (American Beauty, The Bourne Identity, The Amazing Spiderman 2) is another intense actor, with a malleable face. Good for the casting, limited by opportunities. As Karen’s love interest, C.J. Wilson is just the hunk, though not in a very well-written part. Polly Draper has chiselled features, Debra Monk and Malachy Cleary have bit roles as Davis’s parents, Blaire Brooks is made to put on the same ‘what’s going on’ look all through the film, while Wass Stevens makes an effective real-life demolition man, in one of the comic scenes that works.

You know what? Demolition makes just that much more sense a day after you have seen it, as you deconstruct and then reconstruct it in your mind. Too late. Jean-Marc has missed the mark. Demolition is a movie to shun.

Rating: * ½

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UnSXelOJo0