While “Don Jon” is a clever and witty film that draws audiences in, it also takes an insightful approach to gender divides and the long-lived battles between men and women, real life and fantasy.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt was smart in the way he wrote the script. He was able to reel the audience in with dramatic fantasies and then turn them around to teach a lesson about the important things in life, all while revolving around a hilarious narrative about a porn addiction. In the opening minutes of the movie, we learn there are only a “few” important things to Gordon-Levitt’s character: “my body, my pad, my ride, my family, my church, my boys, my girls, my porn.”

Gordon-Levitt plays “Jon,” making his writing and directing debut while starring alongside the beautiful Scarlett Johansson. He acquired the name Don Jon from his friends for his ability to pick up girls at the club whenever they go out. They use a 1-10 rating system for girls, and Jon never ends up with anyone less than an eight.

Jon is initially portrayed as a Jersey Shore juicehead with a porn addiction, and struggles with fantasies versus true love. But what makes him different from a stereotypical Jersey kid is the way the character is approached. He is set up as a family man who spends Sundays at church with his parents and sister.

Despite his peculiarities, the audience respects Jon, as it is apparent that he has a serious, romantic side.

It’s first noticeable when Jon falls head over heels for Barbara (Johansson), who is a perfect 10 — according to the rating system — and who he believes to be “the one.” He even introduces her to his stereotypical Italian parents (Tony Danza and Glenne Headly), who are thrilled when Jon finally brings a girl home.

Johansson fit her role perfectly. She has the right acting skills to make her an authentic woman, and manages to make the audience like her and also realize she is too high maintenance.

Though she doesn’t approve of Jon’s addiction, Barbara was raised on romantic comedies that are just as removed from real life as porn is to Jon. She expects Jon to become friends with her friends and go back to night school, despite the fact that he has a steady job as a bartender. The demands and the fantasies strain their relationship, making them unable to accept something that is real. This leads to a breakup, which adds an interesting element to the movie.

As the movie progresses, porn becomes a symbol of Jon’s unrealistic expectations of women and inaccurate understanding of what love is. This doesn’t change until he befriends Esther (Julianne Moore), a women who enlightens him with her life experiences. Moore is an excellent actress to portray Esther, because her quirkiness brings humor to the strange and sorrowful character, who is the exact opposite of Barbara. She changes his feelings about porn and the way he looks at the world. While this ending was unexpected and somewhat rushed, it was very fitting.

Because of its content, “Don Jon” is definitely a movie for adults. It has that rom-com style, but with much more emphasis on the “com” than the “rom,” while still showing that, in the end, love is the most important thing.

The film also shows that Gordon-Levitt is just as comfortable behind the camera as he is in front of it. He took risks, but he was able to accomplish them. Pornography can be a very controversial topic, and Gordon-Levitt found the humor in it, exploiting the differences between males and females in a completely new way.

Published on October 1, 2013 at 9:27 pm

Contact Brittany: baruss01@syr.edu