The Struggle of Modern Times

Rating: 3/10 (23 December 2013)

This movie certainly revolved around an interesting topic. Pornography is prevalent throughout society in all forms of media, and it's no surprise that it's one of the most common addictions today. Learning about this movie, I was interested from the beginning since it was a film that tackled a relatively sensitive issue head-on. For this, I congratulate the crew who produced Don Jon, but there were definitely flaws it should have addressed first.
The plot was...dull. Man sleeps, cleans his house, goes clubbing, has sex. Then masturbates. Going to Church to repent for sins yet committing the offence is something I agree many in the world do today. I just wish it showed some form of sincere repentance or even just a push to change since it diminishes the whole act. The movie starts to become incredulous here and only becomes more illogical later. Afterwards, the relationships seem a bit too bizarre. The romantic ones do not seem to be anything but physical. It appears the world is full of sex-driven individuals whose only desire is coitus. This version of life just seems so extreme and incongruent with normal society. Even the ties between siblings and parents are distant and it's hard to take this movie seriously when everyone's so detached from each other.
With enough will power, stopping anything is possible. To kick an addiction literally overnight, if it is as deeply rooted as depicted in this movie, doesn't seem realistic, though. The overall plot, even little things like dinners with his family, chilling with his friends and just total disregard for his future give me the impression that Jon is a pretty static character who's unwilling to change.
The acting itself had to be some of the worst I had personally seen as well. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is one of my favourites, but he disappointed me greatly after Don Jon. The sheer lack of emotions throughout the movie just prevented myself from relating with any aspect of it. I honestly found it a struggle to keep watching since it all just came across as artificial.
I can honestly say that my initial excitement quickly disappeared as I realized this movie was just about a man living a hedonistic lifestyle in a self-indulging society. That's it...