In “Don Jon”, Joseph-Gordon Levitt’s directorial debut, the very nature of the rom-com becomes a how-to manual on sex.
The widely held view that Levitt is an actor we want to see all the time, either in “(500) Days of Summer” or in “The Dark Knight Rises”, can now become a fully realized dogma, since his first attempt at sitting behind the camera as well as in front of it, comes in as one of the most groundbreaking rom-coms ever made.
Levitt is outstanding in the role of John Martello, a crack shot womanizer in modern day New Jersey, who gets more out of internet porn that he does from his girls. This is all flipped on its head, as Levitt slips in a “what if” in the form of Barbara Sugarman, played by Scarlett Johansson, who comes into Martello’s life to prove to him that there is always room for true love.
Somewhere between a buddy movie, a strung out rom-com and detailed manual on how to stay single, when everything around you tells you not to, “Don Jon” has fun by playing with date movie clichés, hands Johansson the best role of her career and leaves you with a couple of thoughts to take home. Ideally, to think over before you switch on your laptop. As for the rest, we’re all allowed our obsessions…
Μanolis Kranakis
