Jake Gyllenhaal is a Wreck in 'Demolition' Trailer
Jake Gyllenhaal comes in like a wrecking ball in the trailer for Demolition, Jean-Marc Vallée’s offbeat drama about a man trying to move on from a tragedy by literally destroying his past. The film opens the Toronto International Film Festival on Thursday, and premieres in theaters next April. Watch the first trailer above.
Gyllenhaal plays Davis, an investment banker whose perfect-seeming life falls apart after his wife Julia (Heather Lind) dies in a car crash. When the hospital vending machine fails to give him peanut M&Ms, it’s the straw that breaks the banker, who vents his frustration in a letter of complaint to the vending machine company. Following that letter, Davis begins writes a series of increasingly personal confessions to the company, which catch the attention of customer service rep Karen (Naomi Watts). Along with her son (Judah Lewis), Karen helps Davis move past the tragedy and demolish what remains of his old life. In the wise words of Chris Cooper, who plays Gyllenhaal’s father-in-law: “If you want to fix something, you have to take everything apart.”
Demolition comes on the heels of two acclaimed dramas by Vallée: 2014’s Wild (nominated for two Oscars) and 2013’s Dallas Buyers Club (winner of three Oscars, plus an additional three nominations). While those inspirational films were based on true events, Demolition appears to be pure fiction — though judging from the trailer, it may inspire a few moviegoers to look for bulldozers on eBay.
