15th Nov2013

Don Jon – Film

by timbaros

don-jon-fathers-day-clip-061613Don Juan is the universal term for describing someone who is a womanizer. Don Jon is a new film about a New Jersey man named Jon who is addicted to sex, and who can’t get enough of it, either from various women, or especially from the internet.

Jon is Jon Martello, a modern day Don Juan. He is very goodlooking, with a great body to match, and a smile that melts hearts. He is also addicted to internet porn. Jon (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who also wrote and directed) has a very active sex life, always picking up the prettiest and sexiest woman in the clubs (much to the jealousy of his friends, who call him Don Jon because of this). But Jon is not sexually satisfied until he watches internet porn (which he considers as sex). He does this sometimes even after having sex with a woman. One night at a club, he meets Barbara, a drop dead gorgeous hot Catholic girl (Scarlett Johansson, in an especially sexy and almost unrecognizable role), and he instantly, he tells her, falls in love with her. She is very skeptical of him due to what she has heard around town about his reputation. It takes a few dates for her to come around, and soon enough, Jon and Barbara are boyfriend and girlfriend. She urges Jon to better himself and to go to night school. And they meet each others’s family’s, with Jon’s family immediately liking her (especially his father, played by a very good Tony Danza). However, Barbara, no matter how sexy and hot she is, still does not satisfy Jon. He still watches internet porn. He is truly addicted to it. And Barbara catches him watching it, twice.
Meanwhile, at night school, Jon is caught watching porn on his phone by mature student Esther (Julianne Moore). Jon, at first, brushes her off, but he slowly gets to know her, and he discovers that she had lost her husband and son 14 months before. Getting tired of Barbara’s control over him, and his having to hide his internet porn addiction from her, he becomes more and more interested in Esther, as she is able to teach him a lot about sex and the emotions that come with it. Barbara and Jon eventually break up.
Don Jon is Gordon-Levitt’s big screen directing and writing debut, and what a debut it is. Funny, witty, and very sexy, Don Jon reminded me of Boogie Nights, the 1997 film where Mark Wahlberg plays a porn star. And Gordon-Levitt is spectacular, smartly casting himself in the lead role. Gordon-Levitt has displayed his acting chops in previous films such as 500 Days of Summer, and by playing a cancer survivor in 50/50. But in Don Jon, he shows his comedic side (which he probably picked up from his days in television’s Third Rock From the Sun, in the 1990’s). And as a writer and director, he successfully creates a story that is basically a romantic comedy about a relationship between a guy and his computer, and with a girl who watches too many romantic movies. Johansson is wonderful as Barbara, the bombshell who can’t quite satisfy Jon’s needs. She deserves an Oscar nomination for her performance. Don Jon would be a perfect film if it were not for the relationship he has with Esther. It is not quite believable as it happens too quickly, and Barbara, being the 40-something woman with baggage, is not really the usual type Jon goes for. And Moore gives a very subdued and almost unsexy performance. But this is a minor quibble for a film that is very funny, very smart, very sexy and very enjoyable. And watch out for the brief cameo by both Anne Hathaway and Channing Tatum – pure genius!