Review of Don Jon (2013) by Drlowdon — 30 Jul 2014

Jon Martello has earned himself the nickname ‘Don Jon’ amongst his buddies due to his ability to pick up virtually any woman he wants, unfortunately for him he gets more pleasure from watching porn than he does with any of the women he takes home. One night he meets the stunning Barbara Sugarman (Scarlett Johansson) and, having at first failed to go home with her, soon finds himself falling in love. Could she finally be the one to live up to his expectations?

The writing and directorial debut of Joseph Gordon-Levitt Don Jon is slickly put together and certainly makes some interesting points about the way people’s expectations can warped by modern media, even if they are perhaps slightly exaggerated. The cast, including Gordon-Levitt, Johansson and the always reliable Julianne Moore are excellent throughout helping to keep things grounded.

Despite these positives I did find that Don Jon made for a rather uncomfortable watch on a number of occasions (how many scenes do we need to see of someone masturbating?) and Don Jon doesn’t come across as a sympathetic, particularly early in the movie, making it difficult to really root for him. The ending also seems a little too rushed and neat to make for a truly satisfying climax to the story.

Don Jon mat not be complete success but it is a promising start to Gordon-Levitt’s career behind the camera that, at the very least, shows he is willing to make movies that veer away from the mainstream.