Once upon a time, there was Brando…
And then came De Niro and Pacino.
To my way of thinking, today it’s Jake Gyllenhaal who combines the best of all three masterful actors in almost every new motion picture he associates himself with.
From BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN and ZODIAC right on through SOUTHPAW and to his frightfully creepy NIGHTCRAWLER, the G-Man delivers on all cylinders.
You may think that I am suffering from acute signs of a bromance with Gyllenhaal.
Well, that would be correct—at least when it comes to his movies.
Gyllenhaal’s latest, called DEMOLITION, is further proof of his terrific acting abilities.
Here he plays a successful investment banker who is apparently living the good life.
Being married to the boss’ daughter (Heather Lind) has its privileges.
However in an instant everything changes!
It’s a tragic car crash in which he survives, but his wife does not.
How will he now cope with the shock?
Definitely not the way you would think.
Gyllenhaal gets just plain weird and does and says strange things like taking on a vending machine company over an M&Ms package mishap with one of their machines at the hospital where his wive died.
You get my drift.
His father-in-law Chris Cooper obviously doesn’t get it and wants Gyllenhaal to pull it together—but to no avail.
Meanwhile back to the vending company where he now makes a most unlikely connection with their customer service rep Naomi Watts.
She’s a single mother with a young son who, – despite all odds and in the strangest of ways – helps Gyllenhaal stage a complete demolition of his life in order for him to be able to start the rebuilding process.
HOW he actually takes apart his life is quite literal to say the least and not recommended in real life.
But under the perfect direction of Jean-Arc Vallee (‘Dallas Buyers Club’ & ‘Wild‘) Gyllenhaal’s unraveling psyche becomes an eclectic cinematic force to be reckoned with.
DEMOLITION recently won the SxSW Film Festival‘s Audience Award.
And while the film itself isn’t for everyone, it should play well to audiences with an appetite beyond the next super hero or Melissa McCarthy outing.
It opens this weekend in limited runs.
My score: a quirky B
(Reviewed at Glenwood Arts Theatre)
JACK GOES TO THE MOVIES Friday mornings during Kansas City’s Morning News on 98.1 FM, KMBZ.
