Howdy do, everyone, it's Papa Vinyard here.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt's directorial debut, DON JON (formerly DON JON'S ADDICTION), just got its first trailer via Apple , and it certainly makes it seem more interesting than the premise makes it out to be. At first, the idea of a modern-day lothario who's secretly a porn addict seems pretty simple and superficial. I should've figured that the consistently stylish (dare I say hipster) JGL would add some flavor to his first shot behind the camera. This got pretty solid reviews out of Sundance and SXSW, and got picked up for a hefty sum at the former, so its commercial prospects are there, especially with the star power. Certainly the internet-savvy premise (that I don't think has really been explored, certainly not like this) will get the star/director's fans attention, and, hopefully for him, their interest as well.
The cast (besides Gordon-Levitt, who's looking buffer than usual) includes Scarlett Johansson, Julianne Moore, Tony Danza (who, I've heard, is awesome and cheese-free) and Glenne Headly. Johansson has a hilarious accent (Jersey? Brooklyn?) that makes her casting seem like a smart move, given that she's the biggest name in the film.
I like the comparison between the trashiness of his porn versus the shallow simple-mindedness of her rom-coms. Personally, I think they're both cinematic trash, but at least porn is more honest about its central theme of, as Patton Oswalt says, "Trying to Fuck."
And I have to admit, the Marky Mark bit at the end got a solid laugh out of me.
DON JON drops October 18th.
-Vincent Zahedi
”Papa Vinyard”
vincentzahedi@gmail.com
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