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Parents' Guide to

Don Jon

By S. Jhoanna Robledo, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 18+

Irreverent romcom about porn is insightful but very graphic.

Movie R 2013 99 minutes
Don Jon Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

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age 17+

Based on 6 parent reviews

Matt B.
Matt B. Adult
October 25, 2015
age 16+

Good sex movie

This is a movie intended for adults. It has sex scenes and they guy watches porn but nothing explicit is shown.
Rrr35
Rrr35 Adult
July 22, 2014
age 17+
See all 6 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Jon (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) doesn't want for much. He makes lots of money as a bartender, he beds a different woman nearly every night, and he has loyal friends. He also watches porn every day, sometimes many times a day, pleasuring himself as he watches. And to him, this isn't a liability, but a virtue. After all, what more could a guy ask for? But it's not enough. No matter how hot Jon's encounters get, nothing compares to the bliss he gets from porn. And he wishes that weren't the case. Enter Barbara (Scarlett Johansson), a dime -- aka a "10" on Jon and his friends' scale -- he spots at the bar. He falls headlong in lust, and then in love, which pleases his mother (Glenne Headly), who wants grandkids, and his father (Tony Danza), who appreciates Barbara's looks. Still, Jon can't shake the porn habit, something Esther (Julianne Moore), an older woman who's his classmate at night school, makes him analyze. Is it an addiction? And if so, what does that mean?

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (6 ):
Kids say (9 ):

DON JON is a delight. Who'd expect a movie about a porn addict to be so uplifting? But it really is, gently introducing a different point of view about love, sex, and romance than the audience is initially led to believe. It's stealth self-help, in the best way. Gordon-Levitt, who reveals a crushing vulnerability in Jon at key moments on which the storyline pivots, makes him both likeable and understandable. Johansson is fierce in the best way, and although Brie Larson, who plays Jon's sister, doesn't have a lot of lines, when she does, they're left ringing in Jon's (and our) ears.

Perhaps the one wrinkle in the movie's polished storytelling is a certain relentlessness to the way that Jon's porn obsession is told. It mimics the porn to which Jon is addicted. Clips are shown over and over and over again, perhaps to drive home the fact that what he has really is an addiction, a compulsion. But after the fifth, sixth, seventh montage of porn-watching and self-pleasuring, enough already. We get it. He has a problem. Gordon-Levitt, who's also the film's director, displays such a creative, light touch elsewhere that this heavy-handedness is even more deeply felt. But he gets a pass this time. Don Jon is too good to be ignored.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about how Don Jon depicts sex and relationships. What connection do sex and intimacy have in the movie? Parents, talk to your teens about your own values on these topics.

  • What makes Jon's habits an addiction? How does it get in his way? How does it compare to other kinds of addiction?

  • Talk about pornography's appeal -- and reach. Does the film capture the casualness with which people view porn? What do you think of this stance?

Movie Details

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