Don Jon Review

Don Jon

3 stars out of 4

By Brett Takeshita

Damn it, Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Your uber talents as an actor could've been enough. But then you gotta one-up all the other actors and prove that you can direct and write as well. What is this?

Hell, you can't be mad at good ol' JGL because he's just too likable. Gotta give props to one of the most charming, multi-talented actors in Hollywood. And after Don Jon, you'll love and respect him even more. This excellent, exciting debut is one of the finest romantic comedies of the year.

Jon (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), or Don Jon as his friends call him, lives a pretty simple life. He "GTLs." He goes to church. He's spends time with his family. He goes out with his boys. He hooks up with girls. And he watches porn. Pretty common dude stuff right? Except Jon's porn consumption is actually an out-of-control, problematic addiction. He spends hours a day watching it. He can't function without it. He'd rather masturbate over XXX videos than have real sex.

But Jon attempts to change his ways after meeting the beautiful Barbara (Scarlett Johansson) at a night club. He wants to hook up with her, but she won't let him. She's a tough chick who won't be bossed around and won't give away her golden ticket easily. Jon must then learn how to navigate true life and relationships and learn what real intimacy is all about.

I commend Gordon-Levitt for exploring a modern, relevant, and somewhat uncomfortable topic with lightness and accessibility. What could've been a hard-to-watch cautionary tale is an insightful and thoroughly entertaining film. JGL does not make light of pornography and actually exposes how problematic it can be to consume it. However, he never judges pornography or its consumers, and he makes sure to add enough humor and pathos to balance out the darkness. The writing is sharp, intelligent, unpredictable, and effective. So is the direction.

As a director, Gordon-Levitt is rather exciting. Not only does he have tonal mastery over his film, delicately balancing raunchy humor with complex drama, but he also has some excellent visual and structural ideas as well. The way he quickly cuts the pornographic clips to show the exciting, hyper consumption of the medium is brilliant. However, the intentional repetition of it all also gets us into Jon's mind and shows the audience how strongly his addiction has taken over. JGL has some intelligent, assured ideas that are often hugely successful.

One of Gordon-Levitt's finest directorial skills is working with actors, for he leads an outstanding cast. Joseph Gordon-Levitt flexes both his comedic and dramatic skills in a role that shows off his full range of talent. Scarlett Johansson shows a new side of herself in a fiery, brilliant performance in which she truly brings her personal stamp to a character that could've been one-dimensional. Julianne Moore is absolutely divine as Jon's community college classmate who gives Jon life lessons and words of wisdom that speak wonders. Tony Danza is riotous as Jon's father. And Brie Larson stuns as Jon's sister. She brings depth to a minor character, one who I wish had a bigger part.

Don Jon isn't quite perfect due to some underwritten characters. Jon's friends in particular feel quite one-dimensional. However, this is a knockout of a debut that is spot-on about our digital era of instantaneous porn consumption and its effects on our modern lives and relationships. Watch out, Hollywood. Joseph Gordon-Levitt proves that he's here to stay. He has a huge, multi-faceted, successful career ahead of him.