Modern film is well versed in the man-upended story. Over the years, a life-changing event has caused many on screen to find redemption, and plenty of others to come unglued.
But it’s rare -- even odds-defying -- to encounter someone who seems to be doing both at once.
That’s the character conceit of “Demolition,” a new film that sees Jake Gyllenhaal in some of the same dark comic waters he swam last year as an off-kilter man in “Nightcrawler,” and also has director Jean-Marc Vallee (“Dallas Buyers Club,” “Wild”) once again exploring the power and limits of personal transformation, though this time more wittily and outrageously.