Little things matter most in emotional TIFF opener

Demolition (out of 4) Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Naomi Watts, Chris Cooper, Judah Lewis and Heather Lind. Directed by Jean-Marc Vallée. Opening-night gala film at TIFF 2015. 100 minutes. STC

Love is a many splintered thing in Demolition, as Jake Gyllenhaal’s emotional wreck of a Romeo swings a sledgehammer rather than a bouquet of roses.

But it’s not what you think in TIFF’s bracing gala opener, receiving its world premiere Thursday night at both Roy Thomson Hall and the Princess of Wales Theatre. Appliances get smashed, not heads, and hearts require healing.

In fact, thinking is entirely beside the point in this dark comedy by Canada’s Jean-Marc Vallée, who tilts towards the visual and sonic poetry of his earlier romance Café de Flore and away from the Oscar-courting narratives of Dallas Buyers Club and Wild.

Demolition is all about feeling: something, anything, even if you have to bust through walls to find it. Heart’s “Crazy On You” makes for a fitting soundtrack addition.

Gyllenhaal’s Davis Mitchell finds himself desperate to emote after the blinkered New York investment banker loses his wife in a car crash. He feels numb, the opposite of his bereft father-in-law (Chris Cooper).

Little things suddenly start to matter to Davis, like the peanut M&Ms the hospital vending machine failed to give him. This prompts a long confessional letter to the vending company and an equally offbeat response from its customer service rep Karen (Naomi Watts). She has her own barricades to break down, along with a young son (Judah Lewis) who delights in mayhem.

“Everything has become a metaphor,” a character observes and Demolition illustrates to excess, as Davis becomes a one-man wrecking crew. Earned tears and unexpected laughter combine for more satisfying impact. Gyllenhaal and Watts can wring empathy out of the oddest of circumstances.

Vallée and screenwriter Bryan Sipe make me think of the absurdist novels of Tom Robbins ( Still Life With Woodpecker) and John Irving ( The World According to Garp), both postmodern storytellers.

“Postmodern” is often defined as breaking down what came before. Demolition literally hammers into that wild head and heart space.