Don Jon

Cast of Characters:

Jon "Don Jon" Martello, Jr. - Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Barbara Sugarman - Scarlett Johansson

Esther - Julianne Moore

Bobby - Rob Brown

Angela Martello - Glenne Headly

Monica Martello - Brie Larson

Jon Martello, Sr. - Tony Danza

Director - Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Screenplay - Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Rated R for strong graphic sexual material and dialogue throughout, nudity, language and some drug use

      Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Scarlett Johansson, Rob Brown, Tony Danza and Academy Award nominee Julianne Moore star in Gordon-Levitt's writing and directorial debut Don Jon. We already know what Gordon-Levitt can do in front of the camera. Does he have what it takes to be behind the camera as well? Either way, it looks like this is the closest we're gonna get to an Angels in the Outfield reunion.

      Jon Martello, Jr. (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), affectionately known as "Don Jon" to his friends, lives a life of routine. By day, he drives a road rage riddled trip to church, goes through the motions of his weekly confession and then has dinner with his parents, Jon, Sr. (Tony Danzy) and Angela (Glenne Headly) and sister Monica (Brie Larson). By night, he goes to the bar with his friends, they scope out girls and rate them on a scale of one to ten (those are referred to as "Dimes"), he takes one home, bangs her brains out and since that doesn't seem to satisfy him, he gets up and wacks off to porn. Wash, rinse and repeat. Angry driving, church, confession, dinner, bar with friends, bang his weekly girl pick, then porn. Wash, rinse and repeat. Now if he can get any girl he wants at the bar, why is it he seems so unsatisfied? Well, his obsession with porn has given him unrealistic expectations with the women he gets in real life.

      Jon's routine is thrown into a tailspin the moment Barbara Sugerman enters his life (Scarlett Johansson). She's the busty, blonde bombshell - who's definitely a Dime - Jon meets at the bar. After tracking her down on Facebook, the two agree to have lunch together and it doesn't take long 'til romance begins to blossom. Despite the fact that Jon has his own "lofty" expectations created by his addiction to porn, he begins to see that Barbara has impossible to meet expectations of her own created from the number of sappy, bull shit chick flicks she immerses herself into. Seriously, if you're in a relationship with Scarlett Johansson and you aren't able to be sexually satisfied, dude - just... just come out of the closet already!

      Like I said, we already know Gordon-Levitt is a tremendously talented actor, one of the best young actors out there today. However, just 'cause you're good at acting doesn't mean you're guaranteed to be good as a filmmaker and vice versa. That said, I thoroughly enjoyed Gordon-Levitt in his filmmaking debut. It's well-written, honest, pulls no punches and is able to be raunchy without the needless gross-out gags that generally fill up movies of this subject matter. It's also thoughtful and moving without entering sappy, saccharine territory. Whether it's Don Jon sitting in the confessional booth for his weekly confession or sitting in front of his laptop for his daily slap fest, all the stylish directing touches Gordon-Levitt adds throughout the film are sure to entertain the viewer. The sounds and visuals used create a bit of a satirical fantasy world within the film, which is appropriate considering that Don Jon and Barbara seem to live in their own fantasy worlds when it comes to relationships. As for the cast, most everyone is spot on. Gordon-Levitt turns in another terrific lead performance as the title character. At first, he's the typical smug, narcissistic, greasy haired Jersey Guido, but over the course of the film we see a genuine transformation (brought to a head in a rather poignant moment during his weekly confession near the end) in him through his interaction with Scarlett Johansson and Julianne Moore's characters. Johansson gives a genuine performance that I feel is one of her best and that accent of hers is spot on without ever getting too "Ah my gaawd! It's a Jooorsey ting!" Julianne Moore is, as always, superb as the woman Jon meets at a night class that reminds Jon that he can never really reach the expectations he's looking for 'cause, like the porn he watches, it's not real. The more we found out about her character, the more we care. In fact, with the film running around only 90 minutes I would've been fine with 10 more minutes of getting to know her more. Tony Danza is the film's scene stealer as Gordon-Levitt's football obsessed dad who's life seems like it'd be a lot easier if he just had a DVR and it was so great to see Glenne Headly back onscreen again. If there was any beef that I had with the film, it was in the thinly written supporting characters. Jon's friends come off as over-the-top buffoons and the running gag with his sister is more than predictable. It's not a bad performance by the fine, young actress Brie Larson. It's just one that has a payoff you can definitely see coming.

      The film has its flaws, but I still enjoyed Don Jon. It's never easy balancing raunchy laughs with genuine heart, especially for a debut filmmaker, but Joseph Gordon-Levitt manages to pull it off. While not perfect, I could still tell he put a lot of hard work and effort into putting this together. There are plenty of laughs, and the way the plot moved from beginning to end kept me engaged and entertained. It's not quite like a filmmaking debut that Ben Affleck had, who swung for the fences and cleared the park with Gone Baby Gone, but Gordon-Levitt still showed here he has the potential to have a fulfilling career behind the camera like he's already enjoying in front of it. I give Don Jon a B+ (★★★½).