Review of Don Jon (2013) by Clarisesamuels — 19 Aug 2014

As a native of northern New Jersey who grew up with many Italian working-class friends, I strongly resented the unnaturally thick Jersey accent as portrayed by Scarlett Johansson in her role as Barbara Sugarman. Sugarman is a Jewish name, as noted by the parents of Jon Martello (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) when he brings her home and introduces her to his Italian-American family, although in one scene Johansson sports a crucifix around her neck, so that detail was either a mistake or she was supposed to have had a Christian mother and a Jewish father. In any case, the film was directed and written by Gordon-Levitt, who is admittedly showing signs of youthful genius (but not necessarily in this film); however, Gordon-Levitt was born in Los Angeles, and like a lot of Hollywood actors and directors who did not grow up in industrialized northern New Jersey, his concept of a primitive, uncultured working class in New Jersey, especially of Italian origin, is highly exaggerated and misconceived. Yes, Ol' Blue Eyes came from Hoboken, and it is there that you will find the thickest so-called “Joisey” accent, but that is because of Hoboken's proximity to New York City, which is standing right there on the opposite shore of the Hudson. Indeed, that accent originates from the depths of Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island. It affects parts of New Jersey by association only. The erroneous concept that this accent originated in New Jersey goes hand-in-hand with the Hollywood belief that New Jersey is the cultural pits of the planet.

For the record, I have never met a New Jerseyan who talks like that. As noted, it is only in limited parts of North and Central Jersey where the New York City dialect is spoken. The majority of the state can be found speaking the Philadelphia region dialect, where the word “Joisey” is unheard of. And certainly, Barbara Sugarman, who is shown to have been raised in a semi-affluent middle-class environment, would not have been speaking such a thick brogue. When Hollywood gets it wrong, they go over the top, and they love to go with the cliches.

My next objection is the subject matter of the film, which again, stresses the primitive, if not positively elemental, level of culture that is presumed to exist in the State of New Jersey. (Remember Darren Aronofsky's The Wrestler? Also, over the top with its depiction of working-class New Jersey.) Jon Martello is not only mindlessly promiscuous to the point where dogs in the street are more discriminating than he is, but he is addicted to pornography and prefers pornography to genuine relations with real women. He watches pornography relentlessly, masturbates fiendishly, and confesses everything to the priest at his local church, where he then dutifully recites the number of Hail Mary's and Lord's Prayers he has to say to atone for his sins. (The number usually varies with the number of times he watched porn movies or had sex out of wedlock.) Just when Martello and Sugarman are becoming almost unbearably tedious, a breath of fresh air arrives in the form of Esther (Julianne Moore), who proceeds to lend some dignity and depth to the scenario. She is a much older woman for Jon Martello, characterized by the grief that she experienced in her recent past, which makes her extremely open and emotionally vulnerable but with a unique charm, a sort of latter-day Annie Hall. She is easy-going and forgiving, but also a wellspring of wisdom, and it is only through a rather odd coupling with her that Martello becomes humanized and stops acting like a beast gone mad in the woodlands.

Moore almost saves the film, but the cartoonish characterizations that precede her entrance unfortunately predominate. Director/screenwriter Gordon-Levitt is still young, and he will have to work a little harder to do a truly sensitive film the next time around.