Joseph Gordon-Levitt has really been beating the pavement to garner publicity for his directorial debut, Don Jon, from a screenplay that he also penned. Gordon-Levitt plays the lead role of, Jon Martello, a quick-talking, ball busting, slick operating Italian twenty-something, who manages to pick up ladies like no one's business clad in only a cut-off tank. The role is one that many men will certainly be envious of, perhaps even more jealous of his co-star, Scarlett Johansson, who plays the role of, Barbara Sugarman, a voluptuous thick Jersey-accented "dime-piece" with a trunk full of attitude. Throw in Tony Danza, as his "chip off the old block" father, Glenne Headley, and Julianne Moore, and you have a supporting cast that is ripe with enriching performances and cross demographic appeal that is sure to score this movie a solid opening weekend. But, leave it to Brie Larson, who plays Gordon-Levitt's sister, Monica, to progress the plot in a significant way with her only two lines of the entire script.
Don Jon, seems a bit redundant and perverted at time's but, if you can make it past these moments you're in for a surprisingly candid movie that depicts the digressions that contemporary couples face in today's dating world. Two thumb's up to Gordon-Levitt for taking a chance with this one and striking a solid chord in the overly factory-churned out world, that has become the norm for Hollywood of late.
