Forgettable movie with a simple plot

Rating: 6/10 (3 January 2014)

This directorial- and writing debut for J. Gordon-Levitt feels very much like a debut. In this simple plot we follow a guy who works at a bar, and the most important things in his life are his body, his pad, his ride, his family, his church, his boys, his girls and his PORN - this is hard to miss, since it is shoved in the face of the audience.
He falls in love with a girl, played by Scarlet Johansson, who controls him completely and tries to make him the person she wants him to be. I did not like her character at all, she has this irritating accent and does not seem like a real person at all. On of the things she makes the lead character do is to take a class so he will not end up as a bartender for the rest of his life. There he meets an older lady, which seems crazy but turns out she is super nice and sensitive and he kind of falls for her after breaking up with the relationship-terrorist from earlier.
It is like this movie is trying to take on a serious matter with a comedic touch, but it offers rare laughs and seems to be trying too hard.
I saw an interview with Gordon-Levitt recently on Jay Leno where he stated that his inspiration for making this movie was he thinks mass media tends to affect how people live their lives. For me this it too obvious in this simplistic plot. Then again, the perfect girl turns out to be imperfect and the crazy lady turns out to be sensitive and giving - this might be something to take from this movie, I don't know and sad to say, I don't really care either.
I cannot especially recommend this one - 6/10