Don Jon

Rating: 9/10 (22 October 2013)

I never thought in my life I would hear that the sound of a computer turning on gives a man a hard on, but for Jon Martello Jr. (Joseph Gordon-Levitt ) it does. Don Jon is the story of a modern day Don Juan, who enjoys sex, but finds porn to be more of a sexual desire than an actual women. What is this guy? Crazy?
When Jon meets Barbara (Scarlett Johansson), Jon feels as if he has met the perfect women, and Barbara feels as if she has meet the perfect man. That is until she catches Jon watching porn, which Barbara despises. I have never seen Joseph Gordon-Levitt so comfortable in a role. His natural on screen presence as Jon is remarkably captivating, touching and hilarious. Scarlett Johansson scores multiple laughs as the gum chewing jersey girl that only cares about herself. Johansson is pitch perfect, this is one of her best role since Woody Allen's Match Point. Now granted that Match Point is a drama and Don Jon is a comedy, they are both extremely well acted on her part.
Im pretty sure its been awhile since a supporting character, who doesn't say anything for 95% of the film, made an audience crack up as much as Brie Larson has as Jon's cellphone obsessed sister, Monica. Larson's Monica seems constantly annoyed at her family members. Whether it's her mother Angela (Glenne Headly) arguing with Jon to find a girl and settle down. Or her dad Jon Martello Sr. (Tony Danza) hollering at the football game on the television. Danza is insanely terrific as the overly aggressive father, whose veins seem to burst out of all area of his body, when he's in a heated moment.
In Don Jon Julianne Moore plays Esther a grieving women who Jon meets while attending night classes. Moore has never once disappointed in any of her roles, she is one of the strongest actresses around. Julianne Moore knows how to find the inner soul of all her characters, and releases it to roam around all over the screen.
Taking on the multiple roles of acting, writing, and directing, Joseph Gordon-Levitt has challenged himself in many ways that that other actors are not doing, and he fully succeeded. Gordon-Levitt stated, and Im paraphrasing, that he directed a bunch of shorts for his website hitrecord.org, (which is a site that collaborates with inspiring filmmakers, writers, musicians, etc) to prepare for making this feature. Don Jon solidifies Joseph Gordon-Levitt as one of the top up and coming directors in the industry. I give Don Jon a 9 out 10.