Gyllenhaal prevents tale of grieving from demolishing itself. Review by Brandon Wolfe On a seemingly unremarkable morning commute, Davis Mitchell (Jake Gyllenhaal) is sitting in the passenger seat half-listening to his wife Julia (Heather Lind) as she implores him to fix the leaky refrigerator back at home. This mundane scene from a marriage is violently upended by a deadly car accident, in which Julia is killed but Davis emerges unscathed. We immediately cut to the hospital where a disoriented Davis is still piecing together what has happened. Hungry, he goes to purchase a pack of M&Ms from a vending machine and watches helplessly as it dangles from its hook, unattainable. He takes a picture of the vending machine’s posted contact information. He’s not done with this. This action, which opens Demolition , represents the most agency Davis displays during this time of crisis. He is almost unnervingly emotionless about the loss of his wife. He tries to force tears in the bathro...