Joseph Gordon-Levitt is bringing his best Jersey Shore impersonation. He's writing, directing, and staring in his first big filmmaking effort. Jon (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) loves only a few things. He cares about his workouts, his cleaning, his car, his family, his church, his boys, chicks, and his porn. Then he meets Barbara (Scarlett Johansson) at the club. On a scale from 1 to 10, she's a dime. She loves rom-coms, and she wants to completely change him. She hates him watching porn and gets him to go to night school. At school, nosy Esther (Julianne Moore) keeps bothering him.
There is a lot to commend on JGL's first big effort. He allows his actors to do their thing. Scarlett Johansson does a good Jersey princess. Tony Danza is amazing as the big macho father. JGL really never lets his mask slip. Julianne Moore brings the deepest character in the whole movie. The movie has its dark moments. Its subject matter is edgy. The funny moments are slightly humorous. It's a dark comedy but just not that funny. If there is an emotional truth, it hits it with a hammer. The movie really gets interesting with the Esther character. JGL did some good work here. The style looks sharp. The script probably needs a few more well written jokes. I look forward to his next directing project.
Don Jon
2013
Action / Comedy / Drama / Romance
Don Jon
2013
Action / Comedy / Drama / Romance
Plot summary
Jon Martello objectifies everything in his life: his apartment, his car, his family, his church, and, of course, women. His buddies even call him Don Jon because of his ability to pull "10s" every weekend without fail. Yet even the finest flings don't compare to the transcendent bliss he achieves alone in front of the computer watching pornography. Dissatisfied, he embarks on a journey to find a more gratifying sex life, but ends up learning larger lessons of life and love through relationships with two very different women.
Uploaded by: OTTO
Director
Top cast
Tech specs
720p.BLU 1080p.BLUMovie Reviews
Good first big filmmaking effort from JGL
SHE'S A DIME
Don Jon (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a bar tender who works out. He beds lots of pretty girls and loves his porn...a lot. He meets Barbara Sugarman (Scarlett Johansson) who is a ten (a dime) and he must have her. She makes him court her first, going to chick flicks. Barbara objects to porn, so Don must hide his addiction. Don also meets and older woman (Julianne Moore) who understands his porn addiction and is not judgmental.
The plot doesn't have any real surprises or twists. My question about the film is what was the message? Relationships are important? Old fashion porn is healthy because it has relationships where modern porn does not? A guy will give up his porn on his own if he really into the relationship? i.e if your man watches porn, you're an inadequate woman or he is messed up. Or a deep Julianne Moore trumps a shallow Scarlett Johansson with a Jersey accent?
The film follows a standard formula, except it includes porn. I never really cared for the characters. The acting was fine, but the film didn't grab me. Perhaps it was because there were simply too many scenes of Don throwing tissues into a waste basket.
Parental Guide: Excessive f-bombs. sex, nudity, and Tony Danza as in Elton John's "Hold me close now, Tony Danza."
Detached
Joseph Gordon Levitt proves he can act and direct at the same time. Bringing Tony Danza back (in a different more extreme Dad role than most know him from) was a great move too. But the movie is all about JGL performance. In front and behind the camera, choosing how to cut a movie together that some might call pornography (though it isn't, it's a movie about addiction).
Sex addiction is something that people take very lightly, making fun of it most of the time. But it can be more serious than that. And Don Jon proves that in a very comical way. Where Michael Fassbender went on and played it like a drama (equally good at least in "Shame"),this movie is lighter in tone most of the time. Still having drama to sit through, but the comic moments, make this an easier film to watch. If you don't mind the sexual theme it has, you will get a powerful movie about the Downfalls of addiction