Don't go into this expecting a comedy, even though that is one of the tags on the IMDb page. Though it does have elements of dark comedy.

This is not a lighthearted movie, to say the least; yet I would describe it as powerful and very "real." It is the complete opposite of a fairy tale and the complete opposite of romantic comedies - and that is very refreshing. It will cause you to think long and hard about your own relationships. You will continue to think about the movie long after you have left the theater.

If you like thought provoking movies that have very authentic characters and story lines, then I recommend this movie for you. The movie isn't all dark, it does have it's lighthearted moments and I felt it did a great job building the emotion as the movie went on.

FYI: I don't review a lot of movies, except when I feel like I need to tell the world about how they would be missing out if they decided not to watch it. That's how I feel about Demolition. Plus, I've never voted for a 10/10.

Jake Gyllenhaal steals the show, once more. His performance astounds me in every single movie, and just when I thought, oh this may be the first movie I'll watch where he'll disappoint; he does the opposite. I also think that the trailer is way less exciting than the movie.

This story is so honest, refreshing, naked, thrilling, and yet dreamy at the same time. Most of the movie I was sort jealous of them, of the way they are dealing with life. It's disturbing and quite wacky to be honest, but still. The way Naomi Watts and Jake Gyllenhaal portray the characters is phenomenal. Great casting. Also the kid does an amazing job.

This movie portrays how people are far from perfect, and not in a way we've all seen before. It's original, moving, and a pleasure to watch.

"Together, they would watch everything that was so carefully planned collapse, and they would smile at the beauty of destruction." Markus Zusak, The Book Thief

Sometimes all you need is one piece to fall off the seemingly perfect construct you've built around yourself. Only then, you'll realize what's been long buried beneath and almost forgotten. That one piece was the tragic death of Davis' wife in a car accident in the revelatory opening sequence of Demolition.

Davis (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a young banker who is married to Julia, his boss's daughter, and, from an outsider's point of view, seems to have his life all figured out. Davis' subsequent emotional numbness and irrational behavior become a source of persistent annoyance to everyone around him, leading him to realize his own metaphorical death which is brought about by Julia's tragic, yet necessary, death – it is the one piece that had to come apart so that Davis would notice the malfunction of his ostensibly ideal life, just like the leaking fridge in his kitchen. And this is when he decides to take everything in his life apart to get to the bottom of who he really is and how he really feels. On his journey of self- exploration, Davis crosses paths with Karen (Naomi Watts), a customer service representative of a small vending machines company, and her rebellious 15-year-old son, Chris (Judah Lewis).

I don't think I ever wanted this movie to end. I've watched it twice so far and I'm still overwhelmed by the emotional genius of both screen writer Bryan Sipe and director Jean-Marc Vallée (Dallas Buyers Club, Wild). Following Davis' course of thinking, I've been trying to take things apart in this movie to understand why I loved it so much and why I end up crying like babies every time, but I just can't put my hand on one thing – it's simply everything. Not a single scene nor a single line in Demolition felt redundant or slightly detaching; they are all beautifully connected like notes in a musical piece, all leading up in an emotional crescendo to an inevitable coda that lingers way after the film ends. And despite the excessive use of montage, it all felt natural and poetic in a way. This is one film made with passion.

Peering into the nature of human relationships is extremely difficult, not to mention trying to dismantle them. That's why Davis' fumbling through his existential ordeal changes from irrational to funny to understandable to incredibly relatable. We don't only take pleasure in watching Davis taking his life apart but we envy him for this melancholic yet euphoric realization of the truth that usually comes after destruction, and which we all yearn for in one way or another. Destroying entails thinking in retrospect, necessarily resulting in painful regret but one that is usually accompanied by blissful realization. Few are the movies that manage to go that deep into human relationships and come back with a bittersweet sense of salvation. Also, the unlikely relationship between Davis, Karen and her son Chris becomes a psychological shelter for the three emotionally misled characters where they get to nurture their empathy and readjust their inner compasses.

The chemistry between Jake Gyllenhaal and Judah Lewis is undeniable, and is highlighted by Sipe's witty script and both actors' topnotch performance. Gyllenhaal's growing acting skills are literally getting out of control (and I mean it in a good way). I don't think anyone could have portrayed Davis as harmoniously as he did, putting you in tears while bringing a smile to your face. After Enemy, Nightcrawler, and Southpaw, Gyllenhaal is slowly and steadily becoming one of the smartest and most talented actors today.

One more thing that makes this experience unforgettable is the music. I've mentioned before that this is a film made with passion, and nothing can give voice to passion as much as music does. I will not talk about the brilliant choices of songs and the perfect song-scene synchronization because that will only make sense when you watch the film.

Demolition will leave you miserably heavy-hearted but spiritually elevated beyond words.

I give it 10 out of 10

I went to see this movie without really knowing its pitch or genre. Increasingly, I feel this is the best way to enjoy a feature film, as trailers reveal more and more of the story, going as far as basically spoiling major plot points and leaving nothing to the imagination. A movie trailer should reveal as little as possible but still tease your interest. Good trailers are works of art in their own right : they have their own story and may even use footage that won't appear in the finished movie.

Anyway, all I knew about "Demolition" was that it tells the story of a guy who has to cope with the loss of his wife and, because of that title, I supposed that he was going to loose his mind and that his life was slowly going to spiral out of control. Kind of like 1993's "Falling Down" with Michael Douglas.

While it is true that there is a fair bit of demolition (literally) and quirkiness involved, ultimately this movie is about a man deconstructing his life, demolishing his prejudices in order to find his true self. Once again, Gyllenhaal truly inhabits his character and delivers a remarkable performance, almost as good as his Oscar-worthy role in "Nightcrawler" (which was inexplicably snubbed by the Academy). Gyllenhaal is slowly becoming one of the most talented actors in Hollywood these days! Although the rest of the cast is quite good -- especially the young Judah Lewis -- I'm not sure this film would have worked without him.

All in all, a strange yet interesting film. 7 out of 10.

I was invited to this film at the last minute and had no idea what it was about. I was surprised to find it was about relationships and loss, not action and adventure. Jean- Marc Vallée sets the scene with a haphazard, dated Technicolor palette, even in the hospital and contrasts it with the cold tones, shapes and the crispness of Davis' house. The coldness is a kind of veneer or ice that has settled on the main character and the complex stages of reaction to loss that Davis (Gyllenhaal) goes through are the heart of this film. It has a kind of edgy subtlety that slides into crazy in just the right way. I loved the "rock and roll" soundtrack as Vallée put it.

A strong cast and story has made an entertaining and thought provoking film.

I really loved this movie. A whole lot. Wow. The story really resonated with me.

The movie follows the connections shared by Davis with Karen, and Davis with Karen's son Chris, as well as other characters, as they take apart their own lives, demolishing their pain, and building a new life together. We get a glimpse into the pain experienced by people that can be healed through destroying the past, rebuilding for the future, and connecting with others.

Every character is multi-dimensional, experiencing inner turmoil, struggling in their own ways. Even the deceased character (no spoiler, but it's pretty obvious who unless you know nothing about the movie) is multi dimensional and we learn about her own struggles.

Physical pain vs emotional pain, and physical possessions vs personal connections are large themes of the movie. The ability to feel feelings, to control them, and the joy that comes once you feel free to release them. Sometimes you need to destroy and take everything apart to fix it.

There are moments of raw human emotion and vulnerability, laughter, regret and grief, childlike connection, painful isolation and loneliness, forgiveness and sorrow. It's truly an astounding experience. I laughed and cried and felt this movie was written about my own life.

I found it breathtaking seeing pain and comfort in this way. How two people who are complete strangers can have an immediate connection, one that is very unique and deeper compared to relationships characters spent years building.

This story may not be for everyone, but I found it shockingly compelling, poignant, and relatable.

I went into watching this movie with no expectations, without even seeing the trailer and trust me that's the best way of seeing this film. Demolition shocks you in the beginning and then you can follow a numb recovery mixed with dark humour, where someone has to deal with losing a person closest to them. While trying to move forward the Davis also has to look back into his life and relationship to make sense of it all.

The acting is superb especially on the part of Jake Gyllenhaal and it engulfs you in a sea of varying emotions where sometimes you're laughing and then you might be crying.

We must destroy in order to rebuild: the message of the picture is clear, I would say very physically clear, since there's much physical destruction, and I found it a very empathetically convincing message, since who has never felt like destroying a place, just to get rid of the past, of something we hate or no longer stand?

The story develops with a steady and quick pace, but is also intertwined by dreamy moments, which soften the overall realistic attitude of the movie. The incisive soundtrack is also wisely chosen to give more value to some emotionally intense moments or to enliven the atmosphere. The cast does a great job, Jake Gyllenhall truly inhabits his difficult and at times incomprehensible character, and is worthily supported by a never disappointing Naomi Watts, and the little boy offers a good performance, too.

On the whole an enjoyable and also thought provoking picture, which leaves much to think about what could lie beneath the ruins if we had the courage to deconstruct the more or less frail scaffold of our existence.

I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. Opens with a car crash that takes the life of Jake Gyllenhaal's character's wife. From there this movie swung in a different direction than I thought. For me it seems to be about how someone deals with grief. Everyone around his character wants/expects him to be acting in a certain way. His wife's death has changed his outlook on life and those around him eventually become less comfortable with his behaviour. I really enjoyed Jake's performance. His character is weird (Not Nightcrawler weird), funny, angry and ultimately just figuring out how to grieve. For a movie I was expecting to lean into the sentimentality it played out in a different way that I feel is a bit more true to real life. It didn't win him any awards but I think the acting in this places it as one of the better movies Jake has done.

Demolition is an amazing movie, combining several intertwined lines all connecting at the end. There were some heavy and sensitive issues tackled by this film and they did an awesome job.

I thought the script was well written. I must admit, I didn't see parts of it coming toward the end.

I thought the acting was outstanding. Jake keeps himself in incredible shape and he needed to for this role. It was very physical in parts. His character, you have to feel for him and what he is going through, losing his partner. Chris Cooper is one amazing actor. There are bits where the water works almost turn on. Just amazing.

It is heavy, it is depressing in bits and clever the other times and it flows. There isn't a dull moment it doesn't pace up or pace doesn't. It only has dialogues where necessary.

What you do see is a man dealing with the death of his wife and understanding his relationship and life. Not the way most of us do, but by destroying everything.

I love jake Gyllenhaal more with every new film of his, no one could have played the better than him.

I feel like it had so much potential in the story and characters. As it is, it's just a very jumbled mess, with some really questionable editing. I do find Jake Gyllenhaal's character really intriguing though, and I thought he did some really strong work. I just wish it had a better grasp on the characters. I can't say I didn't find it very watchable though, and I would say it's better than many of the reviews suggest. I hope Jake can get some end-of-the-year traction for this, but I really doubt it. He's endlessly fascinating and very mesmerizing, and definitely carries the film more than the screenplay does. Not sure, perhaps this is a film only a select few will enjoy.

I saw "Demolition" without much hope (after a quick view to his trailer) I though that it will be one more Hollywood-drama for the collection, one more for those of "spent your time"... Wrong!

Demolition is a great and awesome movie, with actors in state of grace, a great and atypical script, that create a great "Non-love" history that have a lot of emotion and sense like the best "Love history" and a beautiful fable of destroy everything than don't matters, accepting oneself disasters, to bring something beautiful and brand new.

You feel a lot of empathy and shame for his characters, Jake and Naomi are just dazzling making this crazy and taciturn roles. Good soundtrack, good history... A great discovery! Do yourself a favor and see it!

Well written but even better scripted. I know some may see this movie as some type of homo-centering self-destructive screenplay. I will say to you viewers get your mind out of the judgmental and see this movie for what it is. This movie is real life. This movie is about closure and telling it as it is. If we all just let go of our insecurities and were broken down to the bare necessities, what would we really care about? Thought provoking? That's the whole point. Get you to respond. Be engaged. The cast were just right. And you may not be able to relate but you definitely can empathize with each character. Jake Gyllanhall and Naomi Watts are great here. Watch a couple of times. Then go be a metaphor or find your metaphor.

From childhood to being an adult we are slowly brainwashed to stay within boundaries, fit in, be socially acceptable. It can kill a spirit or diminish freedom. I don't know why Davis is the way he is, but his journey is an example of a kind of release and discovery that we should all take in some form. That in itself and the way Gyllenhaal portrays and inhabits this character is worth a nine. I thought it was shot beautifully, flowed well and all the characters were portrayed in a real and unconscious way that is a serious nod to all the actors and the director that brought that out of them. It felt original to me, though some may find it a bit heavy handed or cliché. I enjoyed the film immensely and immediately recommended it to anyone I knew who seeks to understand the human condition, the confines of society and the fight to be true to oneself, honest and free.

Choppy editing issues, But superb.

For starters the film has some incredible acting...Jake is utterly convincing in his role as a selfish and seemingly heartless individual devoid of emotion until tragedy entails. The pick up in his thought process is a slow but necessary approach as his mental health issues pick up subtle but convincing time frames and the viewer is left a 50/50 decision on whether you actually like him or not. This is no mean feat for an actor with such a tragic story line and he pulls it off brilliantly.

I would however of liked the mental health issues that surround the process of grief further explored and a stronger message to go out to the audience that grief manifests in so many individual ways that you are never wrong with the way you feel...Its a very precious and intimate individual process.

Naomi Watts character is a little bizarre and almost unnecessary in my view but I will not spoil anything here.

A good just under two hours spent in my opinion with a a lot of thinking to continue for the rest of the evening. A solid 7/10 from me.

This guy is great, his career got of to a bit of a slow start with some of his early work but he still seem to catch a few decent ones. Now it seems he will disappear for a while then come out with a smash. This guy is up there with the best of them and he is in my top 10 favorites.

Normally i don't fallow movies very close, i spend time tinkering or reading on line and if a movie catches my attention then i get into it. This one grabbed me from the start and held on to the end.

They kept the suspense with the station wagon and it kept me wondering on who it my be and their intent but it wasn't what i thought and was a nice surprise.

Davis comes off as a somewhat cold, emotionless widower & can't seem to feel a loose other than the $1.25 loose from a vending machine while inside the Hospital. With so many family members morning he excludes himself but instead begins a writing letter escapade for a refund but really pours out some intimate feelings that he thinks is important at the time to claim his case for his refund. A CS Rep reaches out who's touched by his letters & he seems a bit stuck on sharing & knowing this rep who actually read his letters. Shortly prior he move forward with fixing an appliance that was last spoken about seconds before his loose and strangely enough develops a sick obsession with taking things a part with his red-box set of tools simply due to his curiosity of breaking things down and seeing what they look like from inside out & spreading them among the floor.... A metaphor in itself. This once seldom financial investment banker, clean cut, routine driven man finally breaks away from all that he was groomed for and was now all that easy begins what seems like an out of control spiral to most but for him he is finally paying attention to his surroundings rather than doing all that he knows to be easy. Risk taking to most but to him just not thinking and purely acting on his impulses as well as being completely honest throughout each act. A few relationships were created but also some were awkwardly being broken but not to Davis. This became his moment to breakout his inner somewhat goofy fun child which completely transformed his characters perception on screen.. This so called downward spiral of his begins to come to a halt once he discovered was hidden information as well an introduction of the conspicuous driver of that damn old Station Wagen. He finally FEELS something that he thought wasn't true in the start, comes in touch with his emotions while takes his first steps out of destruction, rebuilding the once broken relationship and together contributes what feels more worthy to Davis's love & her legacy

I am observing closely Jake Gyllenhaal's acting career and he's giving the best performances in all his films. He's one of top 5 best actor of our generation. So technically I love all his films, especially in the recent years and tell me who won't if they love good stories and performance. I expected this to be another excellent film and yes it was, but not that great.

What he has given to his fans and film viewers is the promise and fulfilled it all the way. So even an average film can automatically become a better one. This film was based on the one of the blacklisted script, but Gyllenhaal's presence made all the difference along with the wonderful director.

It was the story of a man who lost his wife in a car accident. His way of grieving is what the film narrates. He realises that he's not able feel a thing when everyone around does, so he decides to make search for the answers and so the bizarre journey begins. The casting was good, but it was all about the Gyllenhaal's role. I like Naomi Watts, but for the first time she looked old to me. And the others did not have much screenspace, except that new face boy who was decent.

I think not everyone would enjoy it, it is a weird story of almost a weird person, so you would easily get it. You must need to be a patience, besides it is a dark comedy. You might wonder why the title was named 'Demolition', the films gives a strange demonstration for that in a good way. It is not like a must see, but totally worth for Gyllenhaal alone. I can't say it should have been better, because there's nothing to get better, everything was at its best.

7/10

Demolition is grief at high-speed, a bumpy road of a fantastic character study held together by Jake Gyllenhaal.

Gyllenhaal plays Davis Mitchell, a man struck by the sudden loss of his wife. Following his passage of grief we learn a lot about him and his emotions towards his wife. Gyllenhaal does a phenomenal job, I consider myself a fan of everything he's done but here he brings alive a character that's hard to sum up on paper, a man lost in a state of being so foreign to him.

Other than Gyllenhaal's performance the film follows a lot of predictable points, a few walking cliché characters and a hell of a lot of letter writing. Nothing unbearable, just a little bit too on the nose. Although the editing is very commendable and felt different to the usual expectation, although it does make the film seem slightly too fragmented at points in which more clarity would have helped.

While parts of Demolition may be somewhat average it's still worth the watch for Jake Gyllenhaal and another one of his wonderful acts alone.

Director Jean-Marc Vallee was responsible for Dallas Buyers Club, a film that impressed me very much. Sadly his new offering, Demolition, veers into Wes Anderson territory—a veritable quirk fest that does a disservice to its tragic subject matter.

Jake Gyllenhaal plays Davis Mitchell, a successful investment banker, who's driving home with his wife Julia when their car is T-boned by an unseen driver. When Davis wakes up in the hospital, he discovers that his wife is a fatality and he has survived virtually without a scratch.

Screenwriter Bryan Sipe then proceeds to serve up a protagonist who's hardly believable in his pre-mourning incarnation. Davis appears as an unlikable automaton, completely cut off from his emotions. After a package of M&M's get stuck in a vending machine at the hospital, he bizarrely begins a letter writing campaign to the customer service department of the vending machine company. In a series of letters (narrated as voice overs), Davis clinically explicates his past life experiences prior to the accident.

Soon afterward, he shows up for work shortly after the funeral, much to the chagrin of his father-in-law Phil, who owns the investment company where he works. Davis' mourning process is a quirky one indeed as he feels a compulsion to take everything apart--which includes dismantling the bathroom stall at work. It's Phil who suggests he take a leave of absence.

At this point, Davis meets up with Karen (Naomi Watts), a customer service rep at the vending company, who has been moved by his letters and is just as quirky as him. Karen lives with Carl, her boss, along with her 15 year old son, Chris (newcomer Judah Lewis). When Carl goes away on an extended business trip, Davis develops a platonic friendship with Karen and stays over at her house.

Karen proves a weak character with little to do, but it's Judah Lewis as her foul-mouthed son who steals the show. Lewis has natural acting talent playing Chris, the juvenile delinquent who eventually bonds with Davis, confessing to him that he might be gay. Davis becomes a mentor to Chris as he enters the deeper anger phase of his mourning process. First he conscripts his young charge to accompany him as he demolishes his own home. Later, he encourages Chris to shoot him in the chest with live ammunition while wearing a bullet-proof vest.

Davis' mourning period concludes when reality rears its ugly head. First Davis is worked over by a jealous Carl but worse yet is Chris, who ends up in a coma after being beaten up for coming out. There's more heartache for Davis when he learns that Julia was pregnant with another man's child before she was killed.

I suppose all this was enough for Davis to transform into a mensch and that's exactly what happens at film's end when he reconciles with both his father and mother-in-law and asks for their help in refurbishing a carousel, as a living memorial for Julia.

Demolition is an original concept in that it treats the mourning process as a black comedy of sorts. But most of Davis' actions, as he goes through his catharsis, are grating and unpleasant. The contrast between the unemotional Davis whom we meet right after the accident and the quirky man who needs to let out his anger in a big way, demolishing everything in his path, proves to be tiresome. Ultimately Davis' farcical "blowing off steam" is too negative to appeal to the viewer who desperately would like to feel something for the film's main character. Davis' sudden transformation into a completely sensitive, caring guy is a welcome twist after all the negativity, but hardly exhibits much verisimilitude.

Gyllenhaal can do little with a script that makes its protagonist a running joke. And the aforementioned Watts is completely upstaged by the teenager with a much juicier part.

Demolition garnered mixed reviews from the critics. While the main character's internal arc reveals a true progression leading to significant change, there is a sense here that the protagonist's core is not only unlikable but too unbelievable to be true.

Davis Mitchell (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a successful investment banker working for his father-in-law's firm. Tragedy strikes for Davis when his wife Julia (Heather Lind) is killed in a car accident. Shortly after his wife is pronounced dead, Davis has a problem with a vending machine and writes several letters of complaint to the vending machine company, which leads to Davis striking up a friendship with Karen (Naomi Watts) a customer service representative at the vending machine company who is touched by the content of his letters. Davis, with the help of Karen, goes on a voyage of self-discovery after the death of his wife, but the unconventional methods he employs to deal with his wife's death don't meet with approval for those closest to him.

Presumably, Demolition is intended as a character study and I can see that an interesting film could have been made out of the character of Davis - he's seemingly an emotionally-retarded man incapable of showing emotion or grief in the conventional sense of the word. In the opening segments of the film, his wife criticises him for not really paying attention, but later in the film we can see that he is actually observant and fairly regimental when going about his daily routine. To me though, it seemed that he only focuses his attention on what is important to him and isn't really interested in what is important to anyone else. The film suggests (as far as I could gather) that there may have been psychological issues with Davis - him being unable to emote or show concern over his wife's death and I really wish that these psychological issues would have had more bearing on the story.

Davis' unconventional method of dealing with his wife's death is interesting in its early stages; his desire to open everything up and see how it works may have been a metaphor about his own existence - essentially stripping everything away about himself and rebuilding himself possibly as a better person. As things progress, Davis gets worse and worse and the moment he pays a group of builders to help them knock a house down is the point where we start to learn that Davis is deeply troubled. This aspect of the story is quite interesting and fun to watch (for a while), but once we get to this point there isn't really any further development of Gyllenhaal's character and at this point in the film it goes from being fun and interesting to being tiresome and repetitive.

As well as Davis' own life struggle the film has other threads such as Karen's marital problems and her son Chris and his struggle with his sexuality. These themes are littered throughout the film and are covered in dribs and drabs, but never really to an extent that you're able to become emotionally invested in these themes or in the characters. Admittedly, the former thread isn't that interesting, but the latter theme is and perhaps could have been expanded further. I think this is part of the problem with this film in that it has lots of ideas and themes, but at 98 minutes long it perhaps doesn't have the running time to develop all of its ideas and as a result it comes across as being a bit muddled and cluttered at times.

Still the acting is pretty good and it is interesting in its early stages and despite some of its problems it never falls into the realms of being unwatchable, but at the same time it's never as interesting as it could have been and when the film ended I felt as though I knew as much about Davis at the end as I did at the start. In my book, Demolition is something of a failure, but it is, at least at times, a moderately interesting failure.

I remember when I watched "In Bruges" and a friend of mine told me, "that is a strange movie, but a good one", what a perfect description.

This one in the other hand is a "strange movie" but a pretty bad one. So the guy loses his wife and start act strange, so what? Nothing, nothing at all. This is the kind of cinema trying to make good characters and don't caring about the story or plot. Now you can make a great film with that premise, such as "About Schmidt" (wich by the way, is kind of the same story) or "Taxi Driver" or you can a make a mediocre and kind of pretentious film like this. You will stop caring about the characters before the ending of the movie, or a minute after it finished.

Not good for entertainment, not good for killing some time and not good for art. Skip this one.

Sometimes I try to work a pun or a play on words into my movie reviews. Often, those are based on the title of the movie I'm reviewing or something about it. In these moments, I'm hoping to be funny or at least a little amusing or clever. It's tough to know whether my readers think that those attempts make my reviews more enjoyable to read, but at least I'm entertaining myself. I try not to make the most obvious puns regarding a given movie, but sometimes filmmakers seem to be handing me a pun on a silver platter and I feel that I have no choice but to partake. (After all, if something's on a silver platter, it has to be good, right?) Therefore, as I prepare to review the drama "Demolition" (R, 1:41) I will be as fair as I can, as is my habit, but I will indeed be demolishing this movie.

Davis Mitchell (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a successful New York City investment banker who is better at high finance than he is at marriage. Davis loves his wife, Julia (Heather Lind), but he has never taken the time or put forth the effort to get to know her deeply so that his love for her can grow and his commitment to her deepen. Instead, after just a few years of marriage, she is killed in a car crash and Davis doesn't seem to feel much of anything. It seems that everyone around him is grieving, especially Julia's father, Phil Eastman (Chris Cooper), who also happens to be Davis' boss. Co-workers offer Davis heart-felt condolences, but he politely dismisses them without a trace of emotion. In fact, Davis comes in to work the day after his wife's funeral, acting no more upset than if his favorite football team had lost a big game. Phil continually does his best to help Davis grieve properly, but two men who should have grown closer as they supported each other are instead driven apart by Davis' increasingly bizarre behavior.

We don't see Davis grieve in any recognizable way, instead keeping his own spirits fairly high as he does whatever he feels like doing, not engendering sympathy from those around him, but further alienating himself from them. First, he takes way too far some questionable advice Phil once gave him about fixing things by taking them apart and then putting them back together again. He starts by disassembling the refrigerator that Julia had been asking him to fix, but he doesn't fix anything or put it back together. Then, for no apparent reason, he takes apart an expensive unopened cappuccino machine that Julia had recently ordered, then his work computer, then a stall in the men's restroom at work. He also has begun writing complaint letters to the vending company whose machine failed to dispense some candy that he tried to buy ten minutes after he learned of his wife's death. His letters go into lengthy stories about his marriage and his thoughts, but with no real emotion or regret. Just the facts. Just because. No more.

The customer service rep from the vending company, an Afghanistan war widow named Karen (Naomi Watts) responds and an unlikely friendship grows between her and Davis. She first contacts him via a 2 a.m. phone call to Davis' home and their exchanges get even stranger from there. Eventually, they meet and Davis befriends Karen and her surly teenage son, Judah (Chris Moreno), while raising ire in Karen's live-in boyfriend, Carl (C.J. Wilson), who also happens to be Karen's boss. Meanwhile, Davis steps up his destructive activities by joining a work crew demolishing a house (and paying THEM for the privilege). Then he turns his attention to his own up-scale suburban home, with Judah along for the fun. Phil has been trying to involve Davis in an effort to establish a scholarship fund in Julia's memory, but what Phil sees as unreliable, increasingly unhinged and disrespectful behavior from Davis pushes Phil past his limits of understanding and tolerance. A few plot twists late in the film increase the drama, but fail to bring the story to even a remotely satisfying conclusion. The resolution that we end up getting falls squarely in the category of "too little too late", doing only a mediocre job of making important points.

"Demolition" is a good title for a movie which so completely destroys any possibility that audiences might enjoy or even be touched by the story. Every single major character in this movie is so self-centered and does so many ridiculous things that they become completely unlikeable and not even relatable. I can't go into more detail without resorting to spoilers, but using a plot point I already mentioned (and which is prominently featured in the theatrical trailer), Davis' complete destruction of his own home is so pointless, over-the-top and wasteful that it's nearly impossible to appreciate visually or emotionally. This is not some guy (and a teenage boy) doing something that we might enjoy participating in. It's just stupid and utterly ridiculous.

Besides exposing Judah to the hazards and poor judgment involved in wantonly destroying an expensive house, Davis is a horrible influence on Judah in other ways. As their odd friendship grows, Davis gives Judah terrible and dangerous advice about a major decision Judah is trying to make. And another idea that Davis has for the two of them to release some pent-up aggression isn't just extremely dangerous, but gives ideas to younger audience members that could actually cost lives. There are many plot points in this film that are upsetting and uncomfortable to watch, and virtually irrelevant to the growth of the characters (which, in spite of this great cast, are only marginally well-acted). This film makes a mockery of the grieving process and irresponsibly condones some extreme behavior by both adults and children. Demolition is what this movie does to an audience's hopes for two hours of quality entertainment. "D"

I do like some movies with Jake Gylenhaal but this Clunker got lost on me. The movie wants you to feel sorry for Mr Gylenhaal....but shows very little of the relationship between he and his wife during there years of marriage. Then you have Ms.Naomi Watts who enters into the picture so ridiculously...what a waste of talent that is. She actually looks bored and not really her best acting. By the second half i was giving up with the film with boredom and just not caring about the characters...the direction was all over the place, not sure where it was going to go and i wanted too feel sorry for the main character but i could not. One more issue was Naomi Watts son....he didn't fit in at all and seemed unnecessary for his character to be in the picture Two This is most definitely a Rental Two Thumbs Down..Way Down!