Don Jon is one of those dramedies that’s funny, without actually having to make any jokes. Maybe it’s just the fact that the audience is watching Joseph Gordon-Levitt become a completely different person – from a scrawny, little teenager in 10 Things I Hate About You to a crazy-hot, buff, New Jersey Italian man in Don Jon. Perhaps this movie becomes humorous once it’s realized that the whole movie is an hour and a half of the same thing. Porn, clubbing, having sex, watching porn right after sex, church and confession, working out while saying his Hail Marys and then going to his family’s house for dinner. Rinse and repeat to finish watching all the scenes from the movie.
For almost anyone but Gordon-Levitt, this simple plot might not have worked, but it did. Although this is the first time he’s written and directed a full-length feature film, Gordon-Levitt did a brilliant job. Whether he used writing a movie as a scheme to have Scarlett Johansson as his leading lady or not, the viewers can decide that for themselves. But if he did, who could really blame him? It all seemed to work out well though, for both Gordon-Levitt and the audience.
This movie is about an Italian porn addict in New Jersey trying to find the meaning of life sex. Jon Martello is nicknamed Don by his friends because of how much of a ladies’ man he is. Yet, no matter how much sex he has or no matter who he has it with(even Johansson’s character, Barbara Sugarman), he still claims he likes porn more. Interesting, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, interesting.
Throughout the movie, Don Jon’s schedule is slightly altered week to week. Once a full-fledged ladies’ man on the hunt, Jon begins to settle down once he gets together with Barbara. They’ve both got the full New Jersey life down, including the accent. Jon is all about the gym, the church, the family and the sex/porn. Barbara is all about the curve-hugging outfits, the dancing, the romantic movies and getting an education. As Jon begins to fall in love with Barbara, he begins to lose himself. She changes his partying ways, tells him that cleaning his apartment is beneath him and to hire someone, forces him to attend a night class or deal with her withholding sex.
What at first might seem like the normal give-and-take in a new relationship quickly turns into Jon giving and Barbara repeatedly demanding. Another thing, Barbara absolutely despises porn and anyone who watches porn, while 10 times a day Jon’s life revolves around it. Jon refuses to let go of the fantasy of porn, causing it to be the only thing in his life that makes him truly lose himself. Barbara refuses to let go of the fantasy of romantic movies, causing her to believe that Jon should simply do everything she asks.
Perhaps nothing would have changed in their relationship if it weren’t for Esther, played by Julianne Moore, who Jon meets at his night class. She’s a lot older and gives a lot less fucks about the rules of life than everyone else Jon has met. He’s immediately confused and annoyed by Moore’s character, but soon it turns into something else, something they both need in their lives. Why, could it be that Esther will teach Jon the true meaning of sex? Will “Don Jon” realize that porn is only a fantasy and not real?
Only Joseph Gordon-Levitt can get away with creating a movie where the audience is watching porn half the time and completely get away with it. His first time out and he writes and directs this stereotypically Italian, GTL-heavy porn flick and does it using real characters with real mindsets. Is it not tasteful to call a porn flick a possible classic? Well done, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, you turn every movie, no matter the plot, into a film with genuine characters. Now you have the world wondering: What will your next film be about and which Maxim Hot 100 woman will you enlist next as your leading lady?
