Don Jon

This film was tauted as a “Comedy.” Some of the secular world’s reviews were “Funny,” “Edgy,” “A surprising gem.” That’s the popular culture’s perspective.

Soon after the film started, as a Christian, I found myself embarrassed to even be seen in the theater. Yes, it was that bad.

There’s no denying Joseph Gordon-Levitt Too bad he didn’t apply his skills to achieve a teachable moment for persons lost in sensuality.

He plays a single guy who “loves his porn” and boasts among his friends that he “pulls” a different woman every weekend. He is not interested in a relationship and only seeks pleasure from women giving them nothing of himself in return.

Scarlett Johansson’s acting skills help us believe she really is a manipulative, shallow woman. Levitt becomes entwined in her web until she catches him viewing porn on his computer and leaves. He tries to win her back and, in the process, realizes she isn’t worth the effort.

Julianne Moore plays an older woman attending night school with Levitt, and they make a connection on a deeper level than he has ever experienced. ***SPOILER*** He stops watching porn, and the film ends with him having sex with her. ***END SPOILER*** Of course, we don’t know how long that relationship will last, but one can make an educated guess.

While I appreciate Levitt’s attempt at redemption, it is disappointingly limited from even a basic religious perspective.

He could have shown his character overcoming his sex drive and moving on to a more spiritual awakening. No one is saying a Christian should avoid sex—it is God’s gift to loving married couples. It is one of the pleasures of life, but we’re not to make sex “the” center of the universe.

Paul refers to Christians as living in the flesh and writes that part of us remains corrupt while awaiting final redemption when we go to heaven (Romans 8:12-17). And though we are subject to human desires, we are to struggle against the flesh and not supposed to so easily give in to them (Romans 7:14-25).

Jesus clearly and lovingly calls us to Him with this caveat: “If anyone wishes to come after me he must deny himself” (Luke 9:23).

And this is where Levitt’s character comes up short. The end of the film shows Don Jon… having sex in bed with Julianne Moore!

Levitt missed that teachable moment which could have helped guide others who are lost in the flesh. But he simply didn’t.

There’s an old saying, “If you can’t control yourself you won’t be able to control anything.”

Had the story taken us into his future, I predict the character Don Jon would eventually have an unsatisfying life, sadly lost in a world of desires that control him.

Therefore, this film cannot be recommended—except for the more jaded and “lost” audience.

Violence: Moderate / Profanity: Extreme—“Jesus” (5), “J*sus F*ck*ng Chr*st,” “J*sus F*cking,” “Jesus Christ,” “Ah Chr*st,” “For Chr*st’s sake,” OMG (3), “G*d-damn” (2), “damn” (2), “hell,” f-words (over 100), s-words (30), and various vulgar slang words for human sexual anatomy / Sex/Nudity: Extreme

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