A review by Maria NeCastro of girlwiththemovieblog.blogspot.com
If you like Joseph Gordon-Levitt, this is the movie for you — he wrote, directed and starred in this September 27 release.
While the idea of watching someone watch pornography may sound disturbing, this movie has a lot more to offer than what meets the eye.
The handsome and talented JLG plays a “Jersey Shore”-type character, Jon, who has some flaws. First and foremost: he has a porn addiction that leaves him with the belief that real human connection is less powerful than sitting behind his laptop and watching “dirty” videos.
The film gets interesting when he falls for Scarlett Johansson‘s character, Barbara. For the first time in his life, he finds a girl he really wants to be with — not just for the night, but for the long haul. The more the couple bonds, the more he hides his addiction.
At the same time, however, he begins to gain more respect from his parents (played by Tony Danza and Glenne Headly) for bringing home a perspective daughter-in-law. As the story progresses, Barbara pushes for Jon to change to fit her mold of the perfect man.
The second half of the film stars Julianne Moore, as Jon gets to know her when he begins taking night classes. The rest, unfortunately, is spoilers. Let’s just say, Jon realizes that his vanity and addictions are unhealthy and the movie comes to a close that is satisfying, yet could use a bit more work.
This film is hard to define on the genre scale, but an easy classification is drama. What makes it worth watching is JLG’s commitment to his role, Johansson’s portrayal of the the “ultimate woman” and the relevance of the subject matter.
While it probably won’t win any awards, besides those found at the MTV Movie Awards, this was a great debut of JLG’s writing and directing on the big screen.
Grade: B-