Sometimes crude and vulgar, but always for a reason

Rating: Null/10 (5 April 2014)

Don Jon is not what I would have expected Joseph Gordon-Levitt's directorial debut to be like. It tells the tale of a man deeply addicted to pornographic movies. So much so that even a million dollar babe like Scarlett Johansson can't fully satisfy his needs for sexual release. Sound vulgar and abrasive? It is, from time to time, but it's also a cutting social satire, a really good character study and a funny comedy, all wrapped into a delightful package of uncomfortableness.
The best part of Don Jon are its main actors. Gordon-Levitt absolutely shines in the leading role. He captures it all. The cockiness, the charm, the uncertainty, the naiveness, the lust, the strength of character, the ideals, the idiocy. Jon feels like a real human. A strange one to be sure, but he has so many layers that you cannot help but feel like he's real. Like you could meet a dude like this at the gym or outside a nightclub.
Scarlett Johansson and Julianne Moore also do credible job in portraying the two women in his life. They're polar opposites in many respects, but you can see what pulls him to them. And once again, they're both larger than life as well as real enough to please the human in us.
Don Jon is not for those overly sensitive about social sensibilities. Its main themes are sex, porn, addictions, falseness of outward appearances and the masks we put on to fool both others as well as ourselves. It doesn't apologize for what it is, it doesn't shy away from anything. But if you can manage it, it's one of the funniest and most poignant social commentaries you've likely seen in a long time.