Would this movie be as entertaining without the all-star cast? Probably not. That’s what you get when an actor directs a movie, I guess. However, I’d say it is still a little underrated in that it’s not bad at all.
Don Jon marks Joseph Gordon-Levitt‘s directorial debut, and he does a better-than-average job at making an entertaining movie. Based on the idea of the classic “Don Juan” story, JGL modernises it and sets his updated version in New Jersey. (Speaking of Jersey, Scarlett Johansson with that accent is something I need more of). Some of his direction is actually quite great during this movie’s run time. Much of the camerawork is very unique and interesting, which makes Don Jon far less run-of-the-mill, and keeps it from embedding itself among other dudebro/young adult titles such as Knocked Up.
The performances in general are also very good. I cannot compare this to Marriage Story in any sense of the word, but this movie proved that ScarJo can fight. This is almost her warm-up for Noah Baumbach‘s 2019 dramatic masterpiece. It’s a pleasure to see Tony Danza too, and the way he’s trying to force his son to like NFL is very me.
What’s strange about the film as a whole is that it is only 90 minutes long yet somehow feels longer. I personally started to lose interest around the one hour mark, but it all came full circle and came to a fascinating, unpredictable conclusion by the end. I appreciated this the most, as it’s not often you see the older woman (Julianne Moore) get the better end of the deal.
What I’d describe this as is a filler movie. You don’t have to pay too much attention to it, and it can fill the couple of hours free you have before work. That’s certainly how I used it, anyway.
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