Three stars. Rating: R, for strong graphic sexual material and dialogue, nudity, profanity and drug use
By Derrick Bang
Fledgling writers have a tendency
toward overkill, a problem that repeatedly plagues this film.
 |
| When Barbara (Scarlett Johansson, standing center) insists on meeting her new lover's friends, Jon (Joseph Gordeon-Levitt, standing center) obliges by arranging a gathering at a local club. Barbara, obviously pleased, is all sweetness and smiles ... but, in truth, this is merely the latest in what will become a string of one-sided little victories. |
Although dissecting the nature of
True Love has been a laudable quest since stories were told via cave paintings,
Joseph Gordon-Levitt — making his debut here as a big-screen writer and director — wields a meat cleaver
when a scalpel would have sufficed. He has a solid sense of what’s funny, and a
good ear for relationship dynamics, but his hammer-handed approach is
guaranteed to alienate the very people likely to be most touched by this
story’s core moral, and its outcome.
He also falls into another common
trap. Repetition rarely enhances a lesson; we merely get bored. Or, in this case,
disgusted.
In this particular case, it
simply isn’t necessary to share what his porn-addicted character views during
every spare moment; we don’t need to watch with
him. The first montage of taut breasts, erect nipples, firm butts and willing
mouths is sufficient; from that point forward, we know what he’s watching every time he sits in front of his laptop
screen.
Indeed, all we need is the
familiar F-sharp-major start-up chime, which Gordon-Levitt unerringly employs
for maximum comic effect ... but then he ruins the moment, each time, with yet
another tiresome display of thrusting bodies and naughty bits.
And vulgar off-camera commentary.
Gordon-Levitt also beats that
affectation to death.
The story, then:
Jon Martello Jr. (Gordon-Levitt)
is a blue-collar New Jersey late twenty-/early thirtysomething bartender who
takes enormous pride in his apartment, his car, his appearance and his ability
to score with the ladies. Thanks to this latter talent, guy pals Bobby and
Danny (Rob Brown and Jeremy Luke) have nicknamed him “Don Jon.”
Trouble is, Jon doesn’t enjoy
women for their companionship or relationship potential; he objectifies them to
the extreme and is interested in sex strictly for its own sake. But that isn’t
satisfying; he can’t “lose himself” in lovemaking with a flesh-and-blood female
partner, the way he experiences a brief “happy zone” with the assistance of an
ideal Internet porn clip.
