Review: Don Jon (2013)

donjon1-1


Cast: , ,
Director: Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Country: USA
Genre: Comedy | Drama
Official Trailer: Here


Editor’s Note: Don Jon is now open in cinemas.

I’ve always been a fan of Joseph Gordon-Levitt, even back in his Third Rock from the Sun days. I knew he was a fantastic actor when I saw Brick (2005) and now I know he is an extremely talented writer and director. Don Jon (2013) is Gordon-Levitt’s writing/directing debut and it is pretty astounding given it’s his first attempt. He manages to take a topic that is potentially difficult and makes it into something that is ultimately rewarding.

The story is that of Jon (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a young man who cares about 6 things in his life: his apartment, his car, his body, his family, his girls and his porn. He is a neat-freak about his apartment, always cleaning and straightening, keeps his car and his body in excellent shape, goes to church and dinner with his family every Sunday and clubbing with his friends every night of the week (when he’s not working, presumably…he is a bartender) where he picks up a different girl to sleep with every night he’s out (a real Don Juan if you will), and he is an online porn addict (and compulsive masturbator).

Not only does Gordon-Levitt turn in a fantastic performance in front of the camera, his work behind the camera is equally impressive. He is never overbearing or heavy-handed in his directorial choices. He uses the camera to create somewhat of a documentary feeling, but keeping it at a distance like he does with Jon.

This all changes when he meets Barbara (Scarlett Johansson). Well, at least the bedding a different woman every night changes. When Jon and his friends spot her, they instantly describe her as a ‘dime’ (see, they rate girls attractiveness on a scale of 1-10, 1 being the ugliest and 10 being the hottest. A ‘dime’ is a 10) and Jon tries to take her home. She resists, which drives him to finding out her name and contacting her for a date. His friend Bobby (Rob Brown) says he’ll have to be in this for ‘the long game’ if he wants to sleep with Barbara, meaning that he’ll have to date her and won’t get a one night stand out of her. Bobby’s right, and in his attempt to merely sleep with Barbara, Jon falls in love with her. This is nearly destroyed when she catches him looking at porn after the first time they sleep together (over a month later).
See, for Jon porn is about a connection and losing oneself in the moment, something that he has never been able to do during the real act of sex. He likes sex and all, but finds that watching porn and masturbating is more fulfilling for him. With this admission, you can see why he gets nothing from all the women he sleeps with because he thinks porn is real and he doesn’t ever let himself know the person he’s sleeping with.

donjon2-1When he and Barbara eventually do break up (because of the porn), Jon seeks solace with a classmate of his, Esther (Julianne Moore). See, Barbara immediately set about changing Jon and he went along with it because he wanted to sleep with her, then he thought he loved her. So, he went back to school to try and finish his degree which is where he meets Esther. Over time, after initially irritating Jon, he and Esther strike up an odd friendship that intensifies later.

The acting here is first rate, notably between the two leads Gordon-Levitt and Johansson who have genuine chemistry. They play off of each other expertly and use their Jersey accents for all they’re worth. Gordon-Levitt gives a very nuanced and subtle performance while making it seem kind of big and loud. He disappears into Jon the way he does all his roles, making Jon seem real and alive. Johansson is no slouch either. She’s normally good in everything she does, but here she gets to have more fun than usual. Also turning in stellar performances are Tony Danza (bet you never thought you’d read that sentence) as Jon’s father and Glenne Headly as Jon’s mother, with Brit Marling being the source of a funny running gag and offering up one of the only bits of wisdom from any of the characters in the film. Julianne Moore is good as always, despite not showing much of anything new in terms of characters that she plays.

Not only does Gordon-Levitt turn in a fantastic performance in front of the camera, his work behind the camera is equally impressive. He is never overbearing or heavy-handed in his directorial choices. He uses the camera to create somewhat of a documentary feeling, but keeping it at a distance like he does with Jon. The camera is normally distant except when Jon is at his most intimate and emotionally vulnerable. Granted for most of the picture this is when he’s masturbating, but it’s still a good choice.

The choices (Gordon-Levitt) made with the script are equally good. He has crafted a screenplay that is funny, bold, serious, mature and wise. He created real characters for his actors to inhabit, giving the film the heft of reality.

The choices he made with the script are equally good. He has crafted a screenplay that is funny, bold, serious, mature and wise. He created real characters for his actors to inhabit, giving the film the heft of reality. He never minces words or has a character that is useless. The insights into his own generation and younger are profound and poetic and he delivers these insights in the form of a comedy. True, the womanizing is difficult to watch, and the scenes of masturbation are uncomfortable (there is no nudity in the film, but the camera is usually tight on Jon’s face during the sequences), they both need to be there to show real growth for Jon. We can’t watch him shed his youthful misunderstanding of the world and the people in it without seeing the misunderstanding in its fullest.

At its core, Don Jon is about the distance we create through our devices. Jon is not able to connect with people because he believes that the pornography he is watching is genuine and how things ought to be with sex and relationships. He doesn’t understand until later that the porn is a fantasy and real relationships are 2-way streets. He doesn’t get what he wants out of sex, which is a feeling of connection and to be able to be lost in the moment, because he never engages people on a human level. He sees women as creatures that are there to please him, but because he doesn’t have realistic expectations, he feels that the women fail him. It takes someone from outside his generation to make him understand that emotional connection cannot be achieved in one sitting and things take work and real intimacy to feel genuine. Don Jon stabs at the artificiality of today’s world and its products, both commercial and what it has done to the youth of today. It reminds us that however easy it is to get lost in our phones and the internet and to believe the fantasy, we need other people to feel connected to something, we need to look at people and talk to them and touch them and be open and honest with people without the glow of electronics between us. It also reminds us that what we see represented in the media should not be taken as total truth and we should not set our expectations of real life based on those we see in fiction. Don Jon is wise beyond its years and is a clear indication of great things to come from Joseph Gordon-Levitt behind and in front of the camera.

88/100 ~ GREAT. Don Jon is wise beyond its years and is a clear indication of great things to come from Joseph Gordon-Levitt behind and in front of the camera.

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Doug Heller

Sr. Staff Film Critic
I believe film occupies a rare place as art, entertainment, historical records and pure joy. I love all films, good and bad, from every time period with an affinity to Classical Hollywood in general, but samurai, sci-fi and noir specifically. My BA is in Film Studies from Pitt and my MA is in Education. My goal is to be able to ignite a love of film in others that is similar to my own.

Latest posts by Doug Heller (see all)

  • luke_a

    Good review. Technically, it’s Hope Larsen as Jon’s silent, texting sister. She’s kinda like a hot, girl version of Silent Bob.

  • Chris D. Misch

    Can’t say I was looking forward to this one, but all the positive buzz has forced me to reevaluate.

  • Doug Heller

    Thanks.
    I meant to write Brie Larson and for some reason, my fingers decided upon Brit Marling. I was thinking the same thing when she piped up at the end.

  • Doug Heller

    The only thing I can add to the review is that when I saw it yesterday morning, there was a couple in their 70′s a few rows down from me. Not only did they stay the whole time, at the end the woman said “It was a little tough to get through some of the stuff, but in the end it was all worth it.”