Back when it debuted at Sundance it was known as Don Jon’s Addiction , and now Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s directorial debut is simply known as Don Jon . At Sundance it was one of few titles that gained fast traction from early buyers.
Don Jon stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt opposite big time players like Scarlett Johansson, Julianne Moore, Tony Danza and Brie Larson. Don Jon looks to be the anti romantic comedy with a modern twist, and while we’ve heard it all before, Don Jon focuses on the taboo subject of porn for its lead’s emotionally stunted ultra macho man persona.
In the thirty seconds of the trailer, the character Don Jon reads a list of his values in life like a modern day dating profile. Don Jon, who got the coin from being able to pull different women into his bed, cares about his body, his pad, his family, his church, his boys, his girls, and his porn. That is until he meets a bright good-old fashioned girl who is seemingly like every woman he has ever dated on the outside, but may just change him for the better.
The synopsis for Don Jon is as follows: “A New Jersey guy dedicated to his family, friends, and church, develops unrealistic expectations from watching porn and works to find happiness and intimacy with his potential true love.”
On paper this sounds like your typical film. Two people trying to change each other while in the end one person just ends up sacrificing their old habits while they trade up for new ones. However, going by the trailer Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s rom com looks to be a rare untapped study into the mind of a man unable to emotionally connect because of the falsifying of our culture. One debate in the trailer even shows a quick dissection into porn versus rom com films.
Last night Joseph Gordon-Levitt announced that he will be using a fictional twitter titled Don Jon to tweet as the lead character. This proves to be a smart move to immerse fans in the mindset and world of the film to familiarize the audience to who and what Don Jon is all about. If it turns out well, Don Jon could gain a bunch of followers and have potential movie-goers in his grasp for its October 18th release.