'Demolition' Trailer: Jake Gyllenhaal Destroys His Life So He Can Rebuild It

Fresh off of playing a guy fighting to get his life back after losing his wife in Southpaw, Jake Gyllenhaal plays a guy fighting to get his life back after losing his wife in Demolition. The new film by Jean-Marc Vallée takes that premise in a very different direction, however. For one thing, Demolition's Davis begins his path to redemption by writing a complaint letter to a vending machine company.

His complaint is received by customer service rep Karen (Naomi Watts), who is intrigued rather than weirded out by his intensely personal notes. With the help of Karen and her cute precocious kid (Judah Lewis), Davis starts the process of tearing down his life so he can build it up again. Chris Cooper plays Gyllenhaal's father-in-law. Watch the Demolition trailer after the jump.

Fox Searchlight premiered the Demolition trailer on YouTube.

The premise seems kinda cutesy, but Gyllenhaal has earned the benefit of our doubt at this point. And Vallée pulled some remarkable performances out of his stars in Dallas Buyers Club and Wild, so if nothing else, it should be interesting to see what he and Gyllenhaal can do together.

Fox Searchlight opens Demolition on April 8, 2016.

In DEMOLITION, a successful investment banker, Davis (Jake Gyllenhaal), struggles after losing his wife in a tragic car crash. Despite pressure from his father-in-law (Chris Cooper) to pull it together, Davis continues to unravel. What starts as a complaint letter to a vending machine company turns into a series of letters revealing startling personal admissions. Davis' letters catch the attention of customer service rep Karen (Naomi Watts) and, amidst emotional and financial burdens of her own, the two strangers form an unlikely connection. With the help of Karen and her son (Judah Lewis), Davis starts to rebuild, beginning with the demolition of the life he once knew.