film

Don Jon (2013)

A bright, contemporary rumination on love, sex, … and porn! This is for every guy who’s been yelled at for watching dirty movies…

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is one of the few “new” actors that’s caught my attention in the last few years.  If you’re around my age, you’ll probably remember him as being the lead kid in Angels in the Outfield, you know, the baseball movie that wasn’t Rookie of the Year or that other one that took place within the Minnesota Twins.  And not The Sandlot either.  Anyway, he’s done some really interesting stuff over the last few years and taken some great roles.  He’s probably most recognizable from The Dark Night Rises where he plays “Robin” and delivers that terrible, terrible line to Bruce about “looking at him” and straight up figuring out he was Batman…wasn’t really his fault, just bad writing.

But he’s had other impressive outings too.  He played a younger Bruce Willis in Looper, wearing such heavy facial prosthetics that I had a difficult time recognizing him.  For the record, I’d like to add that he completely stole the show from the aging Willis, who didn’t seem comfortable in the role at all.  He showed off his more emotional abilities in the recent 50/50, though the choice of Seth Rogen as his co-star severely limits the appeal.  And then there’s Premium Rush, where he takes the role of bike courier who gets wrapped up in a police scandal.  The guy has an impressive range – he convinced me he was a live fast, tough as nails courier; he convinced me he was a dying cancer patient, and he convinced me he was a futuristic assassin.

With Don Jon, he shot for the trifecta: written by, directed by, and starring credits.  And you know what?  He pulled it off.  It’s not even “just a decent movie,” it’s a startlingly blunt look inside a very real problem that some couples face.  More than that, it spoke to me personally, because I could see myself explaining my choices with nearly the exact same words that he uses in the film.

I’m going to try not to give away important plot points, but if you’re concerned about spoilers, you may want to avoid reading any further until you’ve had a chance to see it.

Jon, called “the Don” by his friends due to his ability to constantly score with beautiful women, is your somewhat stereotypical superficial Italian.  He occupies his time taking care of his material possessions, working out, and picking up women.  However, the film makes it a point not to show him in a totally negative light; the importance of friends, family, and church is also shown.   The catch?  He loves porn.  He loves porn more than “the real thing” and explains his preference for it in very logical and sincere terms throughout the movie.

Finally he decides that he wants to find this kind of satisfaction in real life and begins a long term relationship with an exceedingly attractive Scarlett Johansson who absolutely oozes sex during her time on the screen.  However, it soon becomes clear that he’s lying not only to his friends and family but also to himself – this “perfect” girl isn’t taking the place of his porn.

Having such an extremely hot female lead further illustrated how sex wasn’t a replacement for porn and vice versa.

It’s here the plot really starts moving along, and he ends up learning some interesting things about both himself and his love for porn from a very unlikely source.  And honestly I feel like the ending is a little bit of a cop out, but that’s ok, because I feel like some really important points were addressed along the way.  What’s most interesting to me is that even though I am nothing like this “Don Jon” character, I completely related with his views on porn vs. sex.

It seems like a lot of women don’t understand why guys look at porn, especially guys that they’re in a relationship with.  It doesn’t stop at a lack of understanding either; some women are thoroughly disgusted and repulsed, as if they’ve been cheated on.  Then the “comparison” arguments start, where the women feel that they can never measure up to the performers in pornographic movies.  It’s all laid out quite well in Don Jon, and speaking from experience, it was an accurate depiction of how some women react.  I’ve never understood the argument, and apparently neither did Levitt’s character, Jon, because he lays out the exact same rationale that I would so futilely try to explain myself.

The first question posed by the woman is usually, “why do you need to look at that when you’ve got the real thing?” followed by other fears of inadequacy.  But as both Jon and I would be quick to retort, “it’s not the same thing.”  And it isn’t!  Women tend to see porn and sex as substitutes for each other, and have a difficult time grasping what’s different about the two.  The film does a great job of implicitly comparing watching porn to the general escapism that we all experience when watching movies.  Our main character points out that porn represents a kind of idealized version of sex that most women are unwilling to engage in.  Sure, it may not be real, but that’s kind of the point – just like how the happily ever after endings in the movies are exaggerations and idealizations.

I really enjoy how the film explores the male perspective on the issue and realistically portrays the reaction of the female.  However, as the issue comes more and more to the forefront, Don Jon begins to distance itself from the harmlessness of the act and instead begins showing it in a negative light more akin to sex addiction.  Its as if it’s telling us that porn really will become a thing of the past once you’re with the right woman…I get that it doesn’t want to stray too far away from mainstream norms, but I think it would’ve been great if they could’ve maintained the separation of the two activities.  It’s a shame that the film never really reaches a point where the separation of porn and sex is validated, though at least we end things in a mildly marginal manner.

Don Jon wraps up a little too neatly and more like a typical romantic comedy than the first couple of acts would suggest…but I think it brings up an interesting discourse in a very realistic way.  The issue is neither trivialized or sensationalized, though it may not be enough to convince your girlfriend that looking at porn isn’t the same thing as cheating.

I still applaud Levitt for tackling something so seemingly mundane yet undoubtedly a real issue for so many people.  He does a great job with the film, especially as he narrates his character’s own thoughts throughout.  Some viewers won’t see the charm in Don Jon simply because it’s a situation that they can’t relate to, and if so, it’ll probably be hard to see this as any more than a light-hearted love story.  But for those who do get it, it’s an even greater testament to Levitt’s abilities as an actor, writer, and director.  I do hope we see more from him soon…I think he’s got the capacity for 1 or 2 truly profound films within him, even though Don Jon probably won’t ever get the admiration it deserves.

Have you seen Don Jon?  Has your woman ever kicked you to the couch over some dirty movies?  Share your thoughts with us below!

Written by The Cubist