TORONTO -- The Toronto International Film Festival gets underway Thursday with the Jake Gyllenhaal dramedy "Demolition." From there, nearly 400 films unspool from big screen favourites including Johnny Depp, Susan Sarandon, Sandra Bullock and Matt Damon.
Here are five things to know about this year's opener:
1. It's billed as an offbeat but heartfelt roller-coaster.
Gyllenhaal plays Davis, an investment banker who struggles with grief after his wife dies in a car crash. Preoccupied by a lost candy bar in a defective vending machine, Davis writes a revealing complaint letter that catches the attention of a customer service rep played by Naomi Watts. As they forge a connection, Davis embarks on a mission to rebuild his life by dismantling other broken objects around him.
2. It has strong Canadian connections.
The director is Montreal's Jean-Marc Vallee, who brings along his longtime cinematographer Yves Belanger, who also worked on Vallee's emotional mother-daughter film "Wild" and the Oscar-nominated AIDS drama "Dallas Buyers Club." Canuck director Jason Reitman is listed as one of the executive producers.
3. Gyllenhaal has teamed up with a Quebec filmmaker before.
The versatile actor starred in back-to-back films from Denis Villeneuve in recent years -- the arthouse psychological puzzle "Enemy" and the abduction thriller "Prisoners." Gyllenhaal says he formed a deep bond with Villeneuve while shooting the Toronto-set "Enemy," in which he plays two identical characters who engage in a psychological battle when they discover each other. He reteamed with Villeneuve for the Quebecer's big-budget, U.S. debut "Prisoners," which they shot immediately afterward.
4. Vallee is a music geek, and he packs his films with favourite tunes.
His breakout "C.R.A.Z.Y.," about a young gay man's difficulty coming out to his family in late-'70s Quebec, was fuelled by classic tunes. So, too, was his romantic, time-jumping "Cafe de Flore" and the '80s-set "Dallas Buyers Club." Chances are good there will be at least a couple of well-placed tracks in "Demolition."
5. You'll have to wait for this film.
Gyllenhaal's next scheduled release is actually "Everest," an adventure drama about an ill-fated 1996 expedition that saw eight climbers die trying to reach the peak. That movie opened the Venice Film Festival last week. "Demolition" is not expected to open until April 2016.
