Don Jon

Don Jon, the first film from writer, director, and actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a nice attempt. It won't set your hair on fire and you won't leave the theater thinking he's the next Speilberg or Fincher. Don Jon is tepid at best and it centers around a subject that at its core is a weak one to make a movie about. Because of that and a few other things, I give Don Jon a bucket and a half of Killer Korn.











Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a talented man, there is no denying that. His body of work speaks for itself, I mean where's the rest of the cast from 3rd Rock From the Sun? JGL has proven he can act, sing, and dance which makes him the triple threat. For some reason he tried his hand at being another triple threat and that one didn't work out so well. He tried his hand at writing, directing, and starring in Don Jon, his first motion picture and the results left me scratching my head. JGL stars as Jon, a self indulgent lothario who works bar at some trendy nightclub in either NYC or New Jersey, they never clear that up. At least once a week he and his boys get together and scope out the women at said club and give them scores. The woman with the highest score is the one he tries to take home and sleep with, which he is usually successful at. His boys Bobby, played by Rob Brown and Danny, played by Jeremy Luke live vicariously through him. Jon loves the girls, and the girls really seem to love him, but Jon loves his porn even more and it's his addiction to porn that Don Jon centers around.

Jon meets Barbara, played by Scarlett Johansson and he is instantly smitten. He gives her his highest score and moves in for the kill, but Barbara will have none of that and denies the playboy which only fuels his desire for her more. She immediately tries to change him before she gives him any, even though Jon likes porn more than real sex anyway, but he's in love and goes along with it. She meets his family Jon Sr, played by Tony Danza, his mother Angela played by Glenne Headly, and his silent sister Monica, played by Brie Larson. She wants him to take a class and he does, there he meets Esther played by Julianne Moore, the two of them form an uneasy alliance which turns into a genuine friendship. The cast is perfect and their performances are great, too bad the movie is so weak.

Stereotypes abound in Don Jon. From the accents to the wife beaters to his car, Jon is your typical stereotypical young Italian man and I found that boring. Been there, seen that a million times before, and while the movie had it's funny moments, and it did make me laugh, overall it was boring. Don Jon was a pet project of JGL's, something he's worked on for the past five years, sadly this is all he came up with. I won't say those five years were wasted, I'll just say they could have been used to write something more creative, something not so centered around porn. The score by Nathan Johnson and the cinematography by Thomas Kloss isn't anything special, much like this movie. In my opinion this film is worth skipping and waiting for it on DVD but I wouldn't even recommend it then. I think Joseph Gordon-Levitt needs to go back and come up with something more creative than Don Jon, and try again. Next time though I hope he leaves the porn out of it. I'll see you at the theater.