Unafraid and believable

Rating: 9/10 (23 October 2013)

Despite one of the most awkward movie openings I've ever been witness to, Jo Levitt's Don Jon hits. It hits hard. With nothing held back, Levitt makes his directorial debut a deeper than realized and very realistic dramatic comedy. The romance is raw and current, not laced with bullshit anecdotes of what love is, and the comedy is natural and situational. Jon Martello, the lead character (also played by Levitt) is a conceded, underemployed womanizer. We watch as he fumbles to decipher relationships amidst the distraction of deceptive devices such as pornography and Romantic Comedy films. The writing (also done by Levitt) very skillfully crafts a cast of authentic characters that aren't exactly bright, or even likable. The film is composed of a few scenes that repeat at different stages of Jon's life during the time of his relationship with Barbara (played by Scarlett Johansson). The scenes are representative of the things he "really cares about in life" and how those things change as he wises up on relationships. If a Jersey bartender who works out more than works and is—let's be honest—kind of a douchebag can figure out a little bit about how to love it gives the rest of us some hope. Cheers JGL.