Movie Review: "Don Jon" (2013)

Movie: "Don Jon"
Director: Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes

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Sexy ladies man Don Jon (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) values only a few things in life: his body, his pad, his ride, his family, his church, his boys, his girls, and his p0rn. In fact, he prefers the stuff to actual physical intimacy with a woman and it has clouded his ability to have a normal relationship. When he meets Barbara (Scarlett Johansson) at the club one night, he uses his tried and true tricks to get with her, but to no avail. He falls for her, and fast, and they begin dating. He quickly realizes that their relationship is not what it seems. Coaxed into taking a business class by Barbara, Don meets Esther (Julianne Moore), who helps him discover the realities of life, love, and happiness.

A noble directorial debut by Joseph Gordon-Levitt! "Don Jon" gives a very frank and graphic depiction of dirty movie addiction, but is also just a character sketch about a man coming to understand not only himself, but love a little bit better, too. This movie was pretty funny most of the time, but had its moments of seriousness. Gordon-Levitt does a fabulous job being "bro" and title character Don Jon, and it's clear that he is a natural ladies man on-screen. This is another movie where the trailer doesn't necessarily portray exactly how this movie will go down (no pun intended). It might have been portrayed as more of a mainstream romantic dramadey, which we think was done on purpose to get people into theaters to see this film. It's very much a more independent, art-house style film. It has a HARD (no pun intended)-R rating for nudity, obviously, and a lot of cursing, so don't watch this movie with your parents...or siblings...okay, don't watch this movie with your family in general. Overall, decent, not our favorite movie of the year, but good, nonetheless.

My Rating: 6.5/10
BigJ's Rating: 6/10
IMDB's Rating: 7.3/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 83%
Do we recommend this movie: Sure, why not?