DEMOLITION (2016) Review
Directed by Jean-Marc Vallee
“Life: Some disassembly required,” Demolition quite got its title literally in the film. The film wouldn’t have worked if not for the cast especially Jake Gyllenhaal, he’s performance will engage you from start to finish even though it bores you at times. The story is actually simple, it presents a guy that is damaged and lost after someone who he thought was the love of his life passes away.
The film works if you finished it until the end because that’s where everything he’s been going through makes sense. There’s something profound on how Gyllenhaal portrays his character that Davis Mitchell becomes someone real for the audience. Being lost and finding his way back through a weird way, not technically grieving but he’s getting somewhere uncertain, somewhere no one cares including himself.
Demolition gets its work done right in most ways but it builds its story in familiar and sometimes convoluted ones. It might make sense as a whole but it gets tedious getting there. Jake Gyllenhaal proves he can pull-off any role he’s been given, there’s so much to his character that you get to see it portrayed naturally. There might be something off with some of its plots and you might feel a bit weak at some of the things that needed to be destroyed in order for Davis to be happy but the overall experience was pleasant, thanks to Jake Gyllenhaal’s performance and dance sequence.
3.5 OUT OF 5 STARS
“Demolition” is now showing in Philippine cinemas from Octoarts Films International. Rated R-13 by the MTRCB.