A carefully planned tale of expectations vs reality in terms of sex and relationships

Rating: 8/10 (25 May 2014)

"Don Jon" has something to say. Joseph Gordon-Levitt very clearly saw something troubling in the way that pornography and sex in the media has impacted how people think about sex and relationships, and so he decided to write and direct a movie about it.
Gordon-Levitt also stars as Jon, the epitome of a New Jersey stereotype, who cares about little else except family, friends, working out, his car and women —women both real and on his computer screen. Jon can land just about any girl he wants, but in his mind, nothing can take the place of Internet pornography. He finally comes face to face with the notion that he has an addiction when he can't shake his need to watch porn despite it being his new girlfriend Barbra's (Scarlett Johansson) number one request.
For those curious how what kind of approach the charming leading actor takes behind the camera, Gordon-Levitt loves playing with sequencing in this movie. Jon is a routine guy: go to the club with his guys, make eye contact with a girl, dance with her, take her home, go to church, confess, get road rage, eat with his family, go to the gym, etc. (with porn of course interspersed). Gordon-Levitt ropes us into that routine to best understand Jon and how his lifestyle feeds his addiction subconsciously.
The curveball of the film is Julianne Moore's character, Esther. After Barbra coerces Jon into taking night classes, he meets Esther, who catches him watching porn on his phone and proceeds to engage him about it. Her role is meant to break Jon's routine, to challenge his thinking about love and sex. She's not merely a tool to these means — she has her own complexities — but she has a distinct purpose, as with all the characters.
Take Brie Larson as Jon's sister, Monica. Every time we see Monica she's staring at her phone and completely unengaged. But an actress like Larson doesn't get cast a screen filler simply meant to show another form of addiction (phone attachment) that's a bit more rampant in society. She's a sleeper character, ready to make a meaningful contribution to the film when you least expect it.
Everything is very planned in this movie. You can see the characters and scenes as pieces working together to teach us about the danger of having certain expectations about love and sex based on how it's portrayed in pornography, in romantic movies, the media, etc. You can clearly tell Gordon-Levitt's an intelligent guy and there's something satisfying in the way he so transparently makes a statement with his film.
In doing this, however, the film loses its organic energy. The characters feel just a bit less real, the situations a bit contrived and the drama doesn't elicit a lot of emotion. The performances are excellent — good actors are needed to breathe life into characters who were created around ideas — but "Don Jon" doesn't hit you anywhere. It's the kind of film that will provoke discussion and appeal to those who enjoy analyzing film, but not necessarily win over folks looking for emotional escapism in their movies.
Gordon-Levitt definitely has more directing in his future. He's learned a thing or two from folks like Rian Johnson ("Brick," "Looper") and Marc Webb ("500 Days of Summer") about edgy, contemporary filmmaking. He might be better off working from someone else's script, but there's nothing seriously wrong with this debut effort.
~Steven C
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