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Demolition

Play trailer 2:20 Poster for Demolition R 2016 1h 41m Comedy Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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53% Tomatometer 207 Reviews 55% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
Grieving investment banker Davis Mitchell (Jake Gyllenhaal) returns to work after losing his beloved wife in a tragic car accident. After writing a letter to complain about a vending machine, Mitchell receives a phone call from Karen (Naomi Watts), a customer service rep from the company. Karen becomes moved by his complete honesty, while Davis finds someone to lend a sympathetic ear. As his new friendship with Karen and her son grows, Mitchell finds the strength he needs to rebuild his life.
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Demolition

Demolition

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Critics Consensus

Demolition benefits from a stellar cast, even if their solid work isn't always enough to prop up a confused story that aims for profundity but too often settles for clichés.

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Critics Reviews

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Dwight Brown National Newspaper Publishers Association 11/08/2016
Who knows where his displaced emotions will take him? Who cares? Go to Full Review
Sara Michelle Fetters MovieFreak.com 08/11/2016
3/4
Demolition is a cinematic deconstruction of expectation and cliché, all of which results in a moving marvel of self-actualization I think I just might be in love with. Go to Full Review
Wendy Ide Observer (UK) 05/01/2016
2/5
The story of a bereaved man who starts to dismantle household appliances and, later, buildings, the whole movie is a laboured metaphor: we get it, he's falling apart. Go to Full Review
Matt Brunson Film Frenzy Nov 11
2.5/4
Gyllenhaal is never less than terrific, even in those moments when the movie surrounding him threatens to completely collapse. Go to Full Review
Yasser Medina Cinefilia 10/15/2024
5/10
It benefits from a credible performance by Jake Gyllenhaal, but the drama often remains situated in a demolition zone that slowly destroys, with each iteration, the potential of its premise about grief and redemption. [Full review in Spanish] Go to Full Review
JD Duran InSession Film 08/01/2024
B-
A frustrating experience. There is a lot to appreciate about this film and it had massive potential, but like Dallas Buyer Club, Vallée wasn’t exactly sure where to take the film and it shows. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Dec 3 Totally Solid Movie. Jake's great in just about everything he does. The story is very original, gets a little off track with the whole demo thing but then wraps up nicely. I WILL be keeping it but I can see if someone wouldn't. See more Jonathan K Nov 17 I'm not really sure what I just watched, and I’m still wondering why I had it in my queue considering the reviews are mid. Maybe it's just the Jake effect... and he’s very good here, very committed, but I was confused by his character for most, if not all, of the movie. The way they portray him makes you wonder if he's autistic, or dealing with some other condition, or veering into sociopathic detachment. The whole time I kept wondering if this was supposed to be grief, or something else entirely. You get a bit of clarity at the end, which helps redeem it a little, but not enough to make the rest of it make sense. The tone of the ending feels mismatched with the oddity of the majority of the film, how strange his character is, and how strange Naomi Watts' character is as well. Ultimately, I don’t think it works, and I think it hinges on a script mistake: they needed to give more backstory and context about the marriage. Keeping so much of that in the dark until the end, and barely offering any insight into his wife or their dynamic, leaves you thinking he's simply emotionally detached, unfeeling, and kind of an asshole. It's hard to empathize with or understand where his erratic, unconventional behavior is coming from. Had the writers shown more of what we're eventually meant to understand -- that the relationship was shallow, that he didn’t feel like he even knew her -- those details would have helped the audience process his character instead of just watching whatever all that was. And when the movie tries to pivot into sentimentality at the end, it feels unearned. You can't be weird, dark, and opaque about basic relationship dynamics for the whole film and then steer into a soft landing. The only part of that final stretch that sorta works is Jake's acting. He almost sells that pivot; the script surely doesn't. See more THE K Oct 7 nose, simplemente no es para mi, es una película muuuuy rara, muy callada, casi SIN sountrack, toda la película es muy silenciosa, no quiero decir aburrida, simplemente es "arte" muuy entre comillas que algunos quieren pero yo no See more Julie D Oct 2 if you're looking for a really strong Jake Gyllenhaal performance and a few good laughs here and there, then give it a go. See more Robert O Sep 14 i thought this movie was great. no way it deserves the rating they gave it. they haven't known grief obviously See more Alyxia E Sep 7 Some of the critics seem to have missed the point entirely, or to have bailed out and not given the film their attention all the way through. I can't write the essay I'd like to, moreover, doing so would almost seem like an affront to the artful and myriad methods this film used to make some beautiful points about the human condition, the human experience, and the social experiences of humans. If you catch yourself inclined to get hung up on anything you notice, my advice is to let it go and keep watching with an open mind. You might then notice something you could have missed. And you might find that rewarding. [5+5 for the film + music and how it served the film and credits] See more Read all reviews
Demolition

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Movie Info

Synopsis Grieving investment banker Davis Mitchell (Jake Gyllenhaal) returns to work after losing his beloved wife in a tragic car accident. After writing a letter to complain about a vending machine, Mitchell receives a phone call from Karen (Naomi Watts), a customer service rep from the company. Karen becomes moved by his complete honesty, while Davis finds someone to lend a sympathetic ear. As his new friendship with Karen and her son grows, Mitchell finds the strength he needs to rebuild his life.
Director
Jean-Marc Vallée
Producer
Lianne Halfon, Russell Smith, Molly Smith, Trent Luckinbill, Sidney Kimmel, Jean-Marc Vallée
Screenwriter
Bryan Sipe
Distributor
Fox Searchlight
Production Co
Mr. Mudd, Black Label Media, Sidney Kimmel Entertainment
Rating
R (Drug Use|Disturbing Behavior|Language|Some Sexual References)
Genre
Comedy, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Apr 8, 2016, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 3, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA)
$1.8M
Runtime
1h 41m
Sound Mix
Dolby Digital
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