Joseph Gordon-Levitt writes, directs and stars in Don Jon, a frank comedy about a sex addict who thinks porn is better than true romance.
Levitt is excellent and consistently funny as the title character, a Jersey boy who is quite the stud—yet he finds himself jerking off to Internet porn within mere minutes of having sex with a live woman.
His problem comes to the forefront when he meets Barbara (Scarlett Johansson), the first real love of his life—a woman with high standards who doesn’t approve of the porn thing.
Gordon-Levitt has given us something akin to a funnier Saturday Night Fever, with porn replacing disco. Yes, the movie is full of porn clips, so don’t see it with kids or a first date, unless you and that first date have some sort of naughty understanding.
Julianne Moore is her usual excellent self in a supporting role, and the shock casting of Tony Danza as Don’s dad proves smart; Danza gets to show some cinematic comedy chops. Kudos to Gordon-Levitt for giving the old dude a shot.
Johansson is great, playing a role that gives her a chance to have a lot more fun than she has had in most of her previous projects.
This is a triumph for Gordon-Levitt. At the moment, he has signed on to produce Neil Gaiman’s Sandman for the big screen. I think he has some pretty good directing chops, so it would be nice to see him star in and direct the project as well.
Special Features: There are a couple of decent making-of doc, and some short films.