Triple-play by Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Rating: Null/10 (1 October 2013)

Perhaps the best way to introduce the titular protagonist is by recounting his first confession the audience is privy to: he confesses to committing, since the last confession a week ago, 2 sexual inter-courses "out of wedlock" and 17 masturbation while watching porno. This is the first of many such repeated scenes, with the numbers varying each time, reflecting the progress of various events around him. While the name Don Jon is undoubtedly designed to remind you of an iconic licentious fictional personage, don't expect its owner to have the slightest resemblance of the near-namesake Signore Juan in "Don Giovanni" except for being libertine personified. Far from being a refined nobleman, the "hero" in the movie is a common bar tender whose most outstanding characteristic, as the movie spare to pain to highlight, is a negative EQ in driving.
This movie written, directed (debut of both, full-length feature) and acted by highly talented Joseph Gordon-Levitt is more than just "X"-rated entertainment. The earlier title, as I've been brought to understand, was "Don Jon's Addiction". I might have used the word "obsession" as "addiction" implies physical substances but that will do. For whatever reasons, psychological possibly, Don Jon enjoys self-administered sex induced by pornos better than the real thing, although he is in no lack of either. That is until he meets Barbara (Scarlett Johansson), an encounter which promises a fairy-tale ending despite that fact that she has her own, shall we say fetishism, for romance movies. In a light way which however is not devoid of seriousness, this movie examines the interaction of these two people, and one more.
It has generally been agreed that Gordon-Levitt is the most versatile actor in this young generation, with ultimate hall-of-fame caliber, many would even say. In his writing and directing debut, he has turned in this solid piece of work where he wisely avoids flashy, avant-garde stuff and uses the reliable style of VO-driven narration. Repeated scenes (aforementioned confessions, driving, as well as things like family dinner) are uses effectives to reinforce the themes, while the story and subject matter are allowed pretty well to speak for themselves.
Johansson in this movie demonstrates that she can be as versatile an actor as Gordon-Levitt, given the opportunities. As Barbara, she shows a Johansson that the audience has never seen before with a depth hidden by shallowness, or a shallowness hidden by depth, depending on the angle you take. Julianne Moore has a role that is initially somewhat baffling. As the story unfolds, however, her significance emerges contrasting the reality of Esther, a woman with real grieves and Barbara who looks for something in her illusions. Tony Danza and Glenne Headly provide good support, playing Jon's parents in a way brings back happy memories of the Bunkers. Brei Larson as Jon's sister accomplishes an exceptional scene-stealing feat with no dialogues, constantly hooked on to her i-phone and seemingly oblivious to people around her.until close to the end of the movie when, with two lines, she hit the nail in the head (and Jon too) pointing out what kind of a person Barbara really is, showing that she has all the while been observing while everybody is talking.