Demolition, 2015 starring Jake Gyllenhaal

 Demolition is a 2015 American comedy-drama film directed by Jean-Marc Vallée and written by Bryan Sipe. The film stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Naomi Watts, Chris Cooper, and Judah Lewis. The film opened the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival and was theatrically released on April 8, 2016, by Fox Searchlight Pictures.

TRAILER

PLOT

Davis is a successful Private Equity Investor at a firm founded and run by his father-in-law Phil. His wife, Julia, is driving them when they are struck by another vehicle, killing Julia. Recovering in the hospital, he attempts to purchase some candy from a vending machine which malfunctions. Davis drafts a complaint to the vending machine manufacturer that includes some venting of his personal experiences. This leads to a series of conversations with a customer service representative, Karen Moreno, in which they end up sharing details of each other's life burdens. Karen appears to be the only one he talks to, though he tells his stories in an understated and unemotional style. He brings this same unemotional process to work, which he has returned to much earlier than anyone expected. Davis does tell one other person, a fellow commuter train rider, that he realizes that he didn't love Julia because he doesn't feel "...sad, or pain, or hurt...". When the commuter prompts the question, "What do you feel?" Davis abruptly stops the train.

Davis's changing emotional state causes him to behave erratically. He notices that he is being followed by a green station wagon. The only thing Davis seems to connect with is trying to understand what's inside things, using a small toolkit to dismantle his household appliances, his work computer, a bathroom stall—eventually telling Phil that he has an urge to dismantle a 120-year-old grandmother clock in Phil's office.

Karen follows Davis, talking with him on his commuter train without revealing her identity. She mistakenly leaves some identification, and Davis is sufficiently moved to track her down at home, where she lives with her boyfriend and boss, Carl, and her 15-year old troublemaker son, Chris. When Carl goes on a long business trip, Davis bunks at her house, where they develop a deep platonic friendship. Chris initially dislikes Davis, but later grows not only to like him but to help Davis cope, while Davis becomes his mentor in return.

Davis joins his in-laws in funding a foundation in Julia's name that will award an annual scholarship; during interviews, Davis behaves disrespectfully towards one of the award candidates, and Phil asks him to sign a transfer of his beneficiary rights in Julia's $2.6 million life insurance policy to the scholarship fund in her name. Davis purchases demolition tools from a hardware store (and, later, a bulldozer) and, with Chris's assistance, destroys his house. When Davis finds an ultrasound of Julia's from the previous year, he is devastated that she failed to inform him.

A climactic night impacts everyone. Davis brings Karen to the party for the scholarship winner, greatly troubling Julia's parents. A young man makes an inappropriate advance on Karen, and she later laughs out loud when he is introduced as the scholarship winner. Davis announces to everyone that Julia had been pregnant and kept it secret. Julia's mother tells him his wife was seeing someone else, the child was not his, and she had an abortion. Returning to Karen's house, Davis finds Carl has returned and is reading the letters Davis wrote to Karen. Carl assaults Davis, while Chris receives a brutal group beating after coming out as gay.

Davis visits his wife's grave and the green station wagon arrives; a man carrying flowers gets out of the car. He turns out to be Michael, the driver of the car that killed Julia. Davis forgives Michael and he experiences flashbacks of his wife and him together and he finally cries, bringing closure.

Davis has turned a corner. He reconciles with Julia's parents, asking Phil to contribute to refurbishing a carousel – destined for demolition – as a memorial for Julia.

Davis receives a letter from Chris saying that he is recovering from his beating, his mother has left Carl, and Davis must be at Pier 54 at a particular time, which results in Davis witnessing the demolition of some waterfront buildings across the Hudson River. Chris watches Davis through binoculars from a nearby vantage point. In the final scene, Davis joyously joins a bunch of kids running as he races ahead accomplishing his childhood memory and desire for winning a race since he always used to lag behind in his childhood.

Rating: 10 Stars

Great Comedy with the "The Wedding Ringer, 2015

The Wedding Ringer is a 2015 American buddy romantic comedy film directed and co-written by Jeremy Garelick. It stars Kevin Hart, Josh Gad, and Kaley Cuoco.The film was produced by Adam Fields, Will Packer Productions and Miramax, distributed by Screen Gems, and released on January 16, 2015.

TRAILER

PLOT

Jimmy Callahan provides best man services, through The Best Man Inc., for guys who don't have the friends needed for a wedding. Doug Harris, a successful tax attorney, and his fiancée Gretchen Palmer are planning their wedding. Frantically needing a best man and groomsmen, Doug contacts Jimmy's company.

Doug needs a "Golden Tux" (seven groomsmen) to match with Gretchen's bridesmaids, which has never been done before. Jimmy agrees to do it for $50,000, all expenses paid.

Three of Jimmy's friends are recruited as groomsmen: Fitzgibbons, a federal prison escapee, Lurch, who has a nagging wife and Reggie, an airport security guard. They interview for the four remaining spots: they choose Kip, sexy with a stutter; Endo, has three testicles; Bronstein, can dislocate and relocate his shoulder; and Otis, can say sentences backwards.

Doug tells Gretchen that "Bic" is a military priest based in El Salvador, and she insists that he also come to the family brunch. There, Doug gets nervous, almost blowing his cover until Jimmy accidentally sets Gretchen's grandmother on fire. In the emergency room, Jimmy lies to Gretchen's father Ed, that they used to play football. So he challenges them to a match with some of his old college teammates.

Doug meets his groomsmen, all with fake identities based on the last names of famous Los Angeles sports figures—Plunkett, Rambis, Garvey, Alzado, Drysdale, Carew, and Dickerson. Jimmy takes Doug and the groomsmen on fake photo shoots of skydiving, scuba-diving, etc..

When Doug begins to have doubts, they visit Edmundo, who tells him the key is to please Gretchen and her mother Lois and nothing else. To prove how good he is at being a best man, Jimmy takes Doug to a wedding where the best man makes a terrible speech. After, they have drinks and show off their dance moves. Jimmy tells him how he gave an excellent best man speech for an acquaintance which led to his career as a wedding ringer. Doug explains that he moved a lot with his parents, so he never got to make friends. When his parents died, Doug took over the business, and work consumed him, leaving him without friends and therefore a best man. Jimmy drives Doug home, and reiterates that they are in a business relationship, and Doug, although hurt, agrees.

At Doug's outrageous bachelor party he is introduced to Nadia, who tries to seduce him, but Doug instead befriends her. A prank involving peanut butter, a dog and a blindfolded Doug's goes awry, requiring the groomsmen and Nadia to rush him to a hospital. When he wakes up the next day, Nadia kisses him goodbye, she hints she would like to know him better. Later, the groomsmen play football with Ed and his college football friends, including Joe Namath, John Riggins, and Ed "Too Tall" Jones. A mud bowl ensues, Ed blows out his knee on the last play and the wedding party team wins.

At the rehearsal dinner, Gretchen's bridesmaids sing a song, while Doug's groomsmen create a slideshow of the fake pictures they took, winning Gretchen over. That night, she notices the Bic razors and Mitchum deodorant in the cabinet, and recognizes the last names of the groomsmen and deduces the scheme. Asking Doug about it, he brushes it off, saying she is paranoid, to which she reluctantly agrees.

On the wedding day, the family priest cancels, so Doug suggests that Jimmy officiate. At the reception, Jimmy congratulates Gretchen, who exclaims that the wedding is a disaster as her zipper is torn, her grandmother has third degree burns, her dad's knee is blown out, the food is bad, and she doesn't love Doug (saying she only married him because he is nice and can easily afford her lavish lifestyle). Doug overhears, telling Jimmy that he can't go through with it, but Jimmy dismisses this.

As Jimmy gives his best man speech, Doug stops him, revealing they aren't really married as "Bic" is not a real priest, nor are his groomsmen who they claim to be. Gretchen is livid that her wedding is ruined. Ed's college friends make peace with Doug and Jimmy and tell them they were good players. Jimmy gets a date with Gretchen's sister, Allison. As they leave, Doug pays Jimmy his $50,000 fee and they accept each other's friendship. Jimmy then has the idea to cash in Doug's first class honeymoon tickets to Tahiti, going instead on a guys trip, along with Nadia (who is now with Doug).

Rating: 10 Stars