don jon

2.47
C+

"This movie could have gone into cheesy or classless territory with the subject matter, but it didn't." - Ashli
"When the actors and actresses weren't talking they did a good enough job, but listening to them was painful." - Bryan
"It was really everything with Julianne Moore that kept this movie above water for me." - Bobby

Glad I changed my mind and had us all watch this instead of "One Day" (which I did end up watching anyways..that movie would not have resulted in any kind of good discussion).
I enjoyed Don Jon. I've liked Joseph Gordon Levitt ever since he was in 10 Things I Hate About You. He directed, wrote and starred in this movie and it was a pretty big departure from the sweet, nerdy, hipster characters he usually plays. And he does a great job at playing that Jersey Shore meathead stereotype that everyone loves to hate. Minor thing (and Shane pointed this out to me)- in the scene where he is lifting weights, he is only lifting 30 lbs. Minor. But kind of dumb for a guy who is super into working out. Scarlet Johanson is fine, as usual. She's always just kind of fine. The gum chewing and the accent got a bit tired and started to annoy me. But then again, pretty sure we were supposed to be annoyed by her character. Julianne Moore is always great. Tony Danza is perfect as Jon's dad. We get a glimpse at where Jon's superficiality may come from through his character.

This had a solid plot, good premise and a few surprise twists thrown in. All things that make for a good movie in my book. I loved the way that they repeated certain plot elements to keep a common thread through the movie. The confessionals, the gym scenes, even the sounds/sequences they used when he was watching porn (that's the first time Ive use the word porn in a review about movie featuring a porn obsessed guy. Crazy). And of course the sequences changed slightly throughout the movie to reflect the current state of Jon. Love that. As he becomes a better person he becomes less and less meathead looking and more like a normal human with better hair. And again the sounds really did it for me, specifically the repetition of certain sounds. This movie could have gone into cheesy or classless territory with the subject matter, but it didn't, at all- which I would credit to excellent writing.

The scene where they are arguing in the Wal Mart (or wherever they are in front of the curtains) about cleaning was bizarre. I get that the scene was used to give us our first inclination that Barbara isn't as perfect as she's initially made out to be, but it seemed awkward and forced. I'm sure there could have been a better way to indicate that she was a little nutso without a weird argument about Swiffers. I was sort of shocked to see that side of Barbara's character come out. I didn't see it coming that she would be crazy.

Julianne Moore's character is perfect. Initially, I thought she would just be a side character with no real major part in the film. She seemed too old to be a potential love interest for Jon and frankly, a little weird. As the movie progressed, I started to think she would become a confidant for him. And once I started to see where they were going with her character and I got over my thoughts on the age gap and I liked their story line (plot twist!). Liked that she knew everything about him and fell for him anyways. Loved that when Jon was with her, he found what he was looking for and started to fill the hole (no pun intended) that was empty. He finally got a glimpse of what meaningful sex with someone you care about can be like.

I read a few Rotten Tomatoes reviews on this (because, duh) just to see what critics were saying after I watched. A few of them pointed out that the climax (again, no pun intended) wasn't super dramatic. I agree- and on that point it was also pretty predictable. Of course he was going to get caught eventually (who doesn't know to clear their browser history every now and again?). However, I thought he would get caught, she would eventually forgive him, and then they would live happily ever after. So glad this didn't happen. A few critics called it a comedy, which sort of confused me. I can't really recall any points where I laughed out loud. Maybe a quirky drama? But not a comedy...

Overall I liked this movie. I'd give it a B. Only because I don't really want to watch it again for some reason? I really can't justify WHY I wouldn't want to watch it again, it's just one of those movies where once is enough. Good movie, good actors, good story.