Don Jon (2013)

Memorable, crazy movie

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Making a movie out of an idea can be pretty tough, cause you have to bend all other elements around that idea. DON JON is one of such films.It mirrors most of the teens (also adults) virtual life and their fantasies too( much like mine DC's Robin having his way with MARVEL's Black Widow. sorry banner).It kind wanna think about the generation's influence towards porn and their mental,physical and moral health which is gonna affect.It a kind of movie where you wanna watch with friends but to hell with SJ i think every single one gonna end up alone with a High definition copy of this movie. shake it out guys.cheers

I put the reviews of Don Jon into 3 categories which, paraphrased are 1) "The film is shallow and sleazy and I hate it"; 2) "The film is shallow and sleazy and that's great because it's telling it like it is – it's an accurate "slice of life" story and I love it"; 3) "The first 95% of the film is shallow and sleazy, but at the very end, it rejects the sleaze for something better and I like it."#3 is what Gordon-Levitt (writer & director) was aiming for. However, that approach has been the standard out of Hollywood for decades and it fails. For the reviewers in categories in 1 & 3 above, they already recognize the shallowness and sleaze of that lifestyle. For reviewers in 2 above, by far the largest group, they view the 95% about shallowness and sleaze and that just reinforces their view that that's the way life is. What's needed is a romance movie that has heart and soul and beauty throughout – before the 1960s that was common especially in the '30s & '40s. But beginning in the '60s a downward spiral for "romance" movies started with each year being worse – each year the difference between Hollywood romance and porn shrunk with many describing most such fare as soft porn and many producers admitting they were aiming to produce soft porn as the best way to make money. Maybe that's why LaLaLand, which was a throwback to an earlier era, was so well received, but even it seemed like a pale shadow of Demy's films which in turn were a pale shadow of the romance films (and life) of the '30s & '40s. Gordon-Levitt is a very good actor. Regarding technique, he can write and is a good director. However, he doesn't seem to have anything to write about. Maybe shallowness and sleaze is all he's experienced, first or even second hand. His efforts have no heart or soul or depth. Modern action adventure movies are well done, but modern movies about the relationship between a man and a woman too often are just soft porn.The formula was wrong but to make it work, the audience should at the very least have been rooting for Jon to go with Esther (Julianne Moore) because of her inner beauty and heart, etc. – I knew in advance that's how it should go, but felt nothing except that she was annoying – not Julianne's fault – it was 100% the fault of the empty script. Jon only rises a few levels, out of about 50, from the shallowness and sleaze at the end as that's as high as Gordon-Levitt's vision can see. I don't think the new movie writer generation is capable of improving so the only solution seems to be to watch films from a different era.

I wanted to see Joseph Gorden- Levitt's movie Don Jon, because I saw him in 'Mysterious Skin' directed by Gregg Araki. Joseph was good when he was young. He really knew how to act and he would put emotions in the character which would make you cry. But I was totally disappointed at Joseph in this character in Don Jon. He forgot how to act. He thought that he could really play a New Yorker and Italian plus Joseph, comedy is really hard. You are not a comedy actor. Why would you choose to write and direct and then you wanted to be a lead actor in it too. There was no real plot in the film and actors were just superficial and there was nothing natural about them. There was vulgar sex like every 10 minutes as if that was the way to keep audience engaged. Scarlett Johansson was struggling to produce New Yorker accent and I don't really care about her acting anyways. I don't know who wanted to put money into this film. Ryan Kavanaugh kept putting money into bad films that's why he is bankrupt.

In the same month (September 2013), American movie fans may have noticed the release of two movies about sex addiction. Although it's good to call attention to this very real problem, one of those two movies did it much better than the other. "Thanks for Sharing" takes the subject seriously and has a good story with appealing characters. And then there's "Don Jon" (R, 1:30).This film is written and directed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who also stars. Jon is a man who cannot get enough sex. He has issues and, as the kids say, he needs tissues for his issues (literally). He brings to bed an endless parade of beautiful women, but still looks at pornography - constantly - even when his latest conquest is sleeping in his bed. He doesn't see a problem with this. He further shows his character's contradictions both as he swears at other drivers while he's rushing to church and as he makes completely insincere confessions in said building.Jon continues unapologetically on this path until he meets Barbara (Scarlett Johansson), who he's convinced is a "10", but who refuses to be his latest one night stand. Jon and Barbara are adorable together, but their constant sexual play and public displays of affection eventually make us feel like voyeurs and border on the disgusting - a word that describes many aspects of this movie. Barbara begins to change Jon's behavior and just might be the one to change his priorities. Or maybe it'll be Esther (Julianne Moore), Jon's college classmate. Or maybe Jon won't change at all.As we wait to see whether Jon accepts that he has a problem and remedy his approach to life and love, we're subjected to Jon and his friends' gross disrespect of women, Jon's obnoxious and dysfunctional family (headed by a very loud, foul-mouthed Tony Danza) along with characters' actions and reactions that don't make sense and are just plain dumb. Helping the audience (especially sex addicts in the audience) see that pornography can never substitute for true intimacy (and can even inhibit it) is a worthy goal, but, in this case, the destination does not justify the journey.So, to sum up, we have a dumb script, disgusting displays, dysfunction and disrespect. Hmm. That's a lot of Ds in my review of "Don Jon". I guess one more won't hurt. This movie's grade also starts with a "D".