At first glance, Don Jon, the writing/directing debut of Joseph Gordon-Levitt, is a comedy about porn addiction. While there is plenty of humour to be had here, at it's core it is an expertly written and exquisitely shot look at modern relationships, and the way media creates unattainable ideals for both men and women.
Jon Martello's (Gordon-Levitt) priorities in life are summed up in his mantra, "my body, my pad, my ride, my family, my church, my boys, my girls, my porn". It's the last one that is most important to him. Despite having an active sex life, bedding a different girl every weekend, he finds watching pornography much more satisfying. When he meets Barbara (Scarlett Johansson), their attraction is mutual, but she insists on a long term courtship, which eventually turns into a relationship. But problems arise, mostly down to Barbara trying to make Jon the "perfect man", and he discovers changes must be mad to his life.
At every turn, Gordon-Levitt shows great promise as a director, delivering a stylish and entirely satisfying debut. He shows a great knack for story telling, letting the picture tell the story instead of relying on copious amounts of exposition. Shots and entire scenes are repeated time and again, each subtle change conveying a wealth of information. Little touches, such as a once pristine bed room looking like a bomb hit it, do more to tell you about a change in character, than listening to five minutes of dialogue about what has changed. The script is also a triumph, smart and funny in equal measure, and is not afraid to be deeply moving at times. The humour is well placed, coming from the story and characters in a way that doesn't feel forced and manufactured, a running gag involving Jon's weekly church confessions scoring the biggest laughs. The story itself is where the movie works the best, twisting the usual romantic comedy cliches into something much different, and exploring relationships in a world where media tells us at every step of the way what we should want and need. Barbara's love of romantic movies is almost comparable to Jon's addiction to porn, in that it instills in her an unattainable ideal of relationships much the same as Jon's views on sex vs. pornography. Once the film moves into it's third act, it begins to show it's heart, the laughs of the first two acts put on the back burner, but proving to be no less entertaining.
Not content with bringing his a-game behind the camera, Gordon-Levitt is on top form in front of it. Jon is a swaggering mass of charisma with a fantastic New Jersey accent. Despite being a foul mouthed, sex obsessed jock, he possesses a great likability, dominating much of his scenes. He also provides one of the greatest scenes of a car stereo sing along in recent memory. Barbara proves to be the perfect compliment to Jon, knowing exactly what it takes to get one over on her sex hungry suitor. Johansson is perfect here, bringing a great confidence to the role. Julianne Moore puts in another great performance as Esther, a level headed voice in Jon's personal crisis, adding to some of the movies more heart breaking moments. While the supporting cast aren't given much to do, they never feel wasted, with Tony Danza stealing the show as Jon Martello, Snr, his spiky relationship with his son filling in a lot of the blanks of why Jon is the way he is. And special mention has to Brie Larson as Jon's mobile phone obsessed sister. She may only have three lines in the entire movie, but makes quite the impact.
A masterful directorial debut, Don Jon is a funny, smart, and wonderfully acted social commentary, proving Joseph Gordon-Levitt has great career behind the camera as well as in front of it. A must watch!!!
Jon Martello's (Gordon-Levitt) priorities in life are summed up in his mantra, "my body, my pad, my ride, my family, my church, my boys, my girls, my porn". It's the last one that is most important to him. Despite having an active sex life, bedding a different girl every weekend, he finds watching pornography much more satisfying. When he meets Barbara (Scarlett Johansson), their attraction is mutual, but she insists on a long term courtship, which eventually turns into a relationship. But problems arise, mostly down to Barbara trying to make Jon the "perfect man", and he discovers changes must be mad to his life.
At every turn, Gordon-Levitt shows great promise as a director, delivering a stylish and entirely satisfying debut. He shows a great knack for story telling, letting the picture tell the story instead of relying on copious amounts of exposition. Shots and entire scenes are repeated time and again, each subtle change conveying a wealth of information. Little touches, such as a once pristine bed room looking like a bomb hit it, do more to tell you about a change in character, than listening to five minutes of dialogue about what has changed. The script is also a triumph, smart and funny in equal measure, and is not afraid to be deeply moving at times. The humour is well placed, coming from the story and characters in a way that doesn't feel forced and manufactured, a running gag involving Jon's weekly church confessions scoring the biggest laughs. The story itself is where the movie works the best, twisting the usual romantic comedy cliches into something much different, and exploring relationships in a world where media tells us at every step of the way what we should want and need. Barbara's love of romantic movies is almost comparable to Jon's addiction to porn, in that it instills in her an unattainable ideal of relationships much the same as Jon's views on sex vs. pornography. Once the film moves into it's third act, it begins to show it's heart, the laughs of the first two acts put on the back burner, but proving to be no less entertaining.
Not content with bringing his a-game behind the camera, Gordon-Levitt is on top form in front of it. Jon is a swaggering mass of charisma with a fantastic New Jersey accent. Despite being a foul mouthed, sex obsessed jock, he possesses a great likability, dominating much of his scenes. He also provides one of the greatest scenes of a car stereo sing along in recent memory. Barbara proves to be the perfect compliment to Jon, knowing exactly what it takes to get one over on her sex hungry suitor. Johansson is perfect here, bringing a great confidence to the role. Julianne Moore puts in another great performance as Esther, a level headed voice in Jon's personal crisis, adding to some of the movies more heart breaking moments. While the supporting cast aren't given much to do, they never feel wasted, with Tony Danza stealing the show as Jon Martello, Snr, his spiky relationship with his son filling in a lot of the blanks of why Jon is the way he is. And special mention has to Brie Larson as Jon's mobile phone obsessed sister. She may only have three lines in the entire movie, but makes quite the impact.
A masterful directorial debut, Don Jon is a funny, smart, and wonderfully acted social commentary, proving Joseph Gordon-Levitt has great career behind the camera as well as in front of it. A must watch!!!
