Don Jon is a Joseph Gordon-Levitt trifecta of a film – the actor directs, writes and stars. The effort works – his directorial debut is mostly good, sometimes even great. Sweet, funny, and a moral rollercoaster, Don Jon disarms its viewer with the story of an Italian-American whose dedication to his favorite things leads to a reliance on a vice that gets him into trouble.
Gordon-Levitt plays the title character of the film – he is Jon to his family, Don to his “guys,” his friends. His borderline obsessive compulsiveness is no secret, instead the film’s opening monologue has Don narrate his routine as he informs the audience of the things he cares about – his body, car, friends, family, church and the hook, his porn. As slick as the oil in his hair, Don sleeps with a steady stream of girls. But none of them are sufficient; instead he watches porn each night.
The groans and squeals of Don’s porn are not for the faint of heart. Clips of it are shown to the audience in a film that wholly deserves its R rating. Yet the movie is poignant and sensitive; characters and their lives bring a level of elegance to a topic generally considered the lowest of the low. Don Jon is not, however, a film about porn. It is instead a film about a man who watches porn, in fact, the film challenges stereotypes about pornography, Don’s need and maybe, just maybe addiction, are but a sidenote in the routines and expectations that control Don’s life.
Don Jon is a likable character, the film makes sure of it. As the classic song “Good Vibrations” plays in his car, or “ride,” Gordon-Levitt’s character sings and dances along, only to realize he is being watched as he slows to a stop at a red light. He then looks the other way. The neighboring car speeds off come green, and he cannot help but continue to sing along. It is a wonderful moment, cute and funny, but also a portrayal of a character.
The camera insists on reinforcing Don’s constant routines for its viewer, often to what feels like a patronizing effect. When Don inevitably begins his transformation, the filmgoer watches the same walk he makes to the gym from prior scenes. This time, he pauses, shrugs and plays basketball instead of his usual weightlifting. Would the viewer have understood Don’s shift without these shots? Absolutely. Each time the initial routine Don narrates in the beginning is repeated, the camera maintains the same order and in fact, the same setting and style of filming for each shot. It’s an intentional technique, one that hammers a little more than necessary for the viewer. Subtlety is not Don Jon’s type nor is it the film’s.
Still, Don Jon is a good movie and the various supporting characters in the film are what make it so. When he falls for Barbara, played by Scarlet Johansson, Don sees in her his ideal woman. With a Jersey accent that puts Snooki to shame and chomping gum the while, Johansson alternates between a manipulative woman looking to control her man and a doe-eyed blonde looking to manufacture her own fairy tale. Her character is as fun to watch on screen as Johansson appears to have had in the role. She pouts, poses and seduces Don, all the while she is molding him into her ideal boyfriend.
Sex scenes in Don Jon are uncomfortable; one in particular provokes a squirming sensation as Don attempts to maneuver a quickie in a car with Julianne Moore’s doped-up character, an initially annoying classmate he confides in. Wonderful in any role, Moore plays her part perfectly, maybe a little too well. But this may be the point. As Don’s unrealistic expectations begins to change, so do the stereotypes characters evoke. The relationship between Gordon-Levitt and Moore falls a little flat, but his chemistry with Johansson makes up for it.
Part of Don’s routine is dinner with his family. A stand-out performance by Tony Danza as Don’s brusque father makes you want to cry and laugh simultaneously every time he fights with his son. All Don’s mother, played by Glenne Headly, wants is grandchildren and it is funny when she laments this to her son, but her pain is felt too. The intersection of emotion from the family scenes provides an added depth to Don lacking in his other interactions. It is Don Jon’s sister who is the most wonderful, played by a sullen, silent Brie Larson. Her outburst in a later scene reflects Don’s changes as she says something of value for the first time – another instance of the film’s need to declare the obvious – but it is also witty, funny and great acting too. Gordon-Levitt’s characters are genuine and the film worth watching.