At 32 years old, Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a busy man. He has landed himself leading roles in both Looper and Premium Rush, and prominent supporting roles in The Dark Knight Rises and Lincoln. These are just the films he did in 2012 alone. Most of those who know of Gordon-Levitt understand that he is a brilliant actor; however, so little understand the depths of his talents behind the camera. Gordon-Levitt runs his own company, hitRECord, an independent production company that helps independent artists in music, film, TV, and literature find a soapbox in which they can stand on to make their voices heard. After almost a decade of dedicating time to the little guy, Gordon-Levitt finally decided to show off his true talent as a director.
Enter Don Jon: Gordon-Levitt's directorial and screenwriting debut, a film in which Gordon-Levitt plays the title role where he is nothing short of fantastic. Gordon-Levitt plays Jon Martello an über Italian, body building, God-loving, porn crazed lothario who finds himself enjoying the life of a single man. Martello is a complete womanizer until he meets Barbara Sugarman (portrayed by a fantastic Scarlett Johansson) and suddenly finds himself at a crossroads. Jon's mother (an easily loveable Glenne Headly) and father (a hilarious Tony Danza) believe that Barbara might be Jon's future wife. Barbara looks to turn her boyfriend into the man she envisions to be with. This comes with a cost for Jon. In order to meet Barbara's needs he must give up his obsession with pornography.
Jon finds his old life difficult to drop and desperately needs to learn a thing or two about himself. Here's when Esther (a wonderfully acted portrayal by Julianne Moore) comes in. She points Jon in the right direction and adds depth to the story. To go any further would spoil the film.
Don Jon isn't a proverbial senseless Jersey Shore knockoff filled with cheap laughs and a paper thin story. It's instead dressed in comedy, snappy characters, and a risky plot. One may be surprised to find that this film contains a very real story that many can relate to in the most unorthodox of ways. Joseph Gordon-Levitt's debut is nothing short of stellar, showing great promise for his next opus behind the camera as well as his next in front of it. Just as we saw in the trailer and commercials, we can't help but feel good vibrations from Don Jon.
