Don Jon (2013)

Directed by: Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Country: USA

Movie Review: Dramatically thin and set in humorous tones, Gordon-Levitt’s directorial debut depicts the life episodes of Jon (Gordon-Levitt), an Italian American porn-addict and women’s conqueror who lives a carefree life till bump into Barbara (Scarlett Johansson), a woman who seems to have everything he is searching for. When everything seemed perfect, Barbara finds out Jon’s addiction and breaks up with him. Desolated and feeling guilty, Jon tries to find solace in his daily praying, weekly confessions at church, and in a strange and sad woman named Esther (Julianne Moore) who will become his confident, lover, and kind of a sexual therapist. The film starts with Jon carefully explaining us all his motivations that boost him to watch porn videos on the Internet. In opposition to this, every time he goes to the movies with Barbara, he finds the chosen romances predictable, and that was exactly what I felt watching “Don Jon”. Not only one single move surprised me, and I didn’t find the film so funny or deep as I was expecting it to be. I remember to have laughed with Jon’s bossy father (a model to his son in terms of dressing) and hysterical mother, and not much more. “Don Jon” provides an unagitated watching with its mildly entertaining approach and despite clear in its message, its final result ended up being a contrived study on the undesirable effects that watching porn might have in real life. For a bold experience about the same subject matter, I would recommend Steve McQueen’s disquieting “Shame”.