Don Jon

****
UK Release Date: November 15th 2013

A New Jersey guy dedicated to his family, friends, and church, develops unrealistic expectations from watching porn and works to find happiness and intimacy with his potential true love.

Director: Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Scarlett Johansson, Julianne Moore

Don Jon is JGL's debut as a director, and it's a fine piece of work.

Jon (Gordon-Levitt) is a very simple character. 'There's only a few things I really care about in life. My body. My pad. My ride. My family. My church. My boys. My girls. My porn.' He's addicted to porn, and not even the real thing gets him going like porn does. Jon can be a bit of a jerk, but everyone can relate to his and Barbara's (Johansson) lifestyles. Both have succumbed to the idealistic ways of the medium. Jon believes sex should be like porn, and his new 'true love' Barbara thinks real love should be like it is in the movies.

So Jon, branded by his meathead friends as Don, atones for his sins with Hail Marys and Lords Prayers, but finds himself repeating the same behaviours. The flow of the film is shaped by Jon's daily routine (helped by the direction of Gordon-Levitt himself); at the club with his boys, rating the women around them, having dinner with the family, going to night school, working out at the gym and masturbating to porn. The only redemption Jon finds is through classmate Esther (Moore).

Don Jon isn't your average kind of rom-com, it tackles a subject that might be frowned upon (depending on the person) but it's funny and one of a kind. JGL is incredibly talented, and this showcase has captured him in his prime, as both a director and an actor.