I never have enough energy about movies to actually write reviews - but Don Jon is absolutely the best movie I have ever seen.

Rating: 10/10 (2 October 2013)

I never have enough energy about movies to actually end up writing big reviews of them - but I'm willing to make an exception for Don Jon, because it is absolutely the best movie I have ever seen.
It is obvious from the beginning and the particularly awkward nature of it that this is a movie that's not for everyone to enjoy - and while it will most certainly become the subject of a very generalized appreciation, it is really aimed towards a particular niche market that will really appreciate this movie the most.
Don Jon is unique among movies I have seen, in that the protagonist is not necessarily someone you will like. In fact, throughout this entire movie, I hated Don Jon - and I was expecting to most absolutely love him throughout this movie. I would never approve of a guy like this getting out there and even being able to be happy. If you know me well enough (okay, none of you IMDb readers probably do, sorry - so in case you don't know me, I'm not a particularly big fan of people who submit to the Christian doctrine, use Apple products, have a genuine "idgaf" attitude, and make so much money to be who they are behind closed doors - as in, we never find out what Don Jon's job is - and I would loathe him more so if he was one of those people who got paid so much to just actually sit around and not contribute.
And yet, director Gordon-Levitt makes it clear that while the movie is centered on the character "Don Jon" and is even titled after him, Don Jon is just a character in what this movie is all about.
Not once in this movie, at any point, are you convinced that it is everything that you thought it would be based on what you saw in the trailer, or perhaps even what you have read about it - which exemplifies the genius in Gordon-Levitt's execution. This is better than you expect. All the best movies we have ever made were better than we expected in some sort of way.
I think that this is genius - because it's going to get a wider attention that it otherwise wouldn't get if the trailer was an actual summary of the point. It's evidence that Gordon-Levitt knows how to market movies: with a conservative trailer, a one-sided hype and a large following of media saying that this movie is absolutely awesome, he is essentially fooling people into this movie by making people think that it's not what it actually is - that it's just another broken-guy-meets-beautiful-girl-and-changes-forever flick that it is actually making fun of in some parts.
I mean, think about the trailer. The trailer misses out on several important details that make this movie what it is - and, on top of that, it's not saucy in any way, making the first 30 minutes seem completely out of proportion to the point where you will want to get up and leave the theatre and not see the rest of the movie. And, in fact, the two girls sitting beside me decided to get up and just do that - they walked right out. They completely missed what really made this movie beautiful.
And, you know what, I don't blame them. The story of Don Jon is really not for them. As I was saying.... while Don Jon is certainly to become a subject of a very generalized appreciation (by those who actually get through the WHOLE movie and pay attention in spite of the way the movie makes you want to turn away some times), it's really unique in that it's aimed towards a particularly niche market who will really appreciate this movie the most, because... well... you'll have to watch the movie and decide this for yourself. The only way to explain this would be to spoil everything to you and ruin your experience.