‘DON JON’- A Movie Your Nan Might Want To Skip!
Let’s talk about porn!
Well, not really, but if that opening sentence made you uncomfortable, then ‘DON JON‘ is not for you. I’m not suggesting that you must like porn to see this movie, but the plot involves a 20-something man’s inner conflict of choosing between what he thinks is his dream girl and his compulsive need to visit porn websites numerous times a day.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt not only plays the title character, Jon, but also wrote and directed the motion picture. As the grandson of a Hollywood director and a man with numerous American television and film credits, Gordon-Levitt is no stranger to a set. While he deserves credit for managing a trifecta, he probably won’t earn an Academy Award. ‘DON JON‘ will not be the next ‘GOOD WILL HUNTING‘.
However, Gordon-Levitt presents a simple story which he casts exceptionally well. Scarlett Johansson plays the bombshell Barbara, who rocks Jon’s world, and there is no denying her sultry appeal in every frame she’s featured. A stark contrast to her character is the emotional disaster, Esther (Julianne Moore). Moore breathes as much life into the part as the script warrants.
Finally, Tony Danza portrays Jon’s father, a man who struggles to keep his own hands away from the rear of his son’s girlfriend. Although, it’s his biceps that steal scenes, not his hands. The over 60-year old actor’s arms were as sculpted and curved as a rotini pasta, and since this film was largely based on visual images, I couldn’t help but be distracted by Danza’s muscular guns.
Aside from casting, Gordon-Levitt smartly sets the film in New Jersey and makes the main character’s family Italian. However, he blew it with the dinner scenes. With films like ‘NUTTY PROFESSOR‘, ‘MEET THE PARENTS‘ and ‘WEDDING CRASHERS‘ featuring some of the best meals in movie history, I had extremely high creative expectations of what Gordon-Levitt would do with an Italian family whose son had a porn addiction. I can best describe his attempt as anticlimactic.
I wouldn’t recommend ‘DON JON’ for a first, second, or third date. It’s absolutely loaded with images of naked women depicting scenes from… well…porn.
Gordon-Levitt impressed me the most in one of the film’s trailers when he humbly faces the camera and explains how proud he is to have written, directed and acted in a picture. Then, he asks the audience to see his movie. He also is quite clear in every trailer that the main character loves his porn.
I went with fair expectations and figured at the very least, I’d get to watch Gordon-Levitt, one hot piece of eye candy, for 90 minutes. Therefore, my biggest complaint in the experience was that I didn’t see one bum shot of him for the ladies. Epic fail.
‘DON JON‘ is now in cinemas in the U.S., and it’s due for release in the UK on the 15th November, 2013.
