On Sept. 27, Joseph Gordon Levitt’s directorial debut “Don Jon” will be released.
The film, also starring Scarlet Johannson, tells the story of a New Jersey guy who is dedicated to his family, friends and church. However, he develops unrealistic expectations about love and sex from watching porn and works to find happiness and intimacy with his potential true love.
The movie, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, scored rave reviews. The film, which was later cut down due to its explicit sex scenes, has still received high marks and currently has an 81 percent aggregate score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film three and a half stars out of four and said, “'Don Jon' [is] a bruisingly funny, bracingly smart comic dare that marks a stellar feature directing and writing debut for Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who plays Jon with humor, heat and sneaky heart.”
James Berardinelli of ReelViews also enjoyed the movie and wrote, “'Don Jon' is visually interesting without being overbearing. The script finds a witty way to confront serious issues. And Levitt-Gordon [sic] takes on the personality of a guy straight out of Jersey Shore.”
Owen Glieberman of Entertainment Weekly gave the movie a B+ and stated, “Gordon-Levitt proves a natural filmmaker, nimbly staging Jon's highly amusing Catholic confessions, along with porn montages that mimic the dopamine-charged editing of 'Requiem for a Dream.'”
Variety’s Peter Debruge also gave the movie a good review and said, “The self-assured helmer shows genuine affection for his characters, balancing their openly satiric qualities with a disarmingly sincere human center.”
“Don Jon” also stars Julianne Moore, Brie Larson and Tony Danza. Relativity will release the film in 2,422 theaters. The movie is rated R for strong graphic sexual material and dialogue throughout, nudity, language and some drug use.