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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Don Jon (2013)
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Don Jon (2013)
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Released 12-Feb-2014
This review is sponsored by
Details At A Glance
| General |
Extras |
| Category |
Comedy / Drama |
Featurette-Behind The Scenes-(3:28) Hitrecord : "My Favourite Things"
Featurette-(2:22) Animated : "Vinegar"
Featurette-Making Of-(6:25) Making of "Don Jon"
Featurette-Making Of-(4:36) Joe's Hats
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| Rating |
?
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Year Of Production
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2013
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| Running Time |
86:13
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RSDL
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Flipper
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RSDL (55:04)
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Cast & Crew |
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Start Up
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Ads Then Menu |
| Region Coding |
4
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Directed By |
Joseph Gordon-Levitt
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Studio
Distributor |
Voltage Pictures
Roadshow Home Entertainment
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Starring |
Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Scarlett Johansson
Julianne Moore
Tony Danza
Glenn Headly
Brie Larson
Bob Brown
Jeremy Luke
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| Case |
Amaray-Opaque |
| RPI |
$12.95
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Music |
Nathan Johnson
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NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.
Plot Synopsis
Joseph Gordon-Levitt has come a long way. From his early TV work, his first venture onto the big screen, with Beethoven and A River Runs through It, more TV (Roseanne and 3rd Rock from the Sun) and many more movie credits he has built a remarkable resume. Still only in his early thirties, he is a multi-talented young man who has now written, produced, directed and starred in a most impressive film. Like its maker, this film is trim, taut, entertaining and sparklingly intelligent. There are a few missteps of youth along the way, but predominantly Don Jon is a most enjoyable, even rewarding, experience.
Jon Martello (Gordon-Levitt) is a young New Jersey stud who, in the film's opening monologue, tells us that there are "only a few things (he) really cares about in life". These are his body, his pad, his ride, his family, his church, his boys (mates), his girls and last and definitely not least, his porn. All of these facets of our hero's life are entwined in a script that evolves with total naturalness from the characters and their interactions. One evening out on the town with his "boys", Bobby (Bob Brown) and Danny (Jeremy Luke), our urban narcissict is smitten with Barbara (Scarlett Johansson). A courtship ensues, and some taming of the young lion takes place, much to the delight of his parents (Tony Danza and Glenn Headly) and mute scorn of sister Monica (Brie Larson). As part of the reformation dictated by Barbara, Jon attends night school and there encounters an older woman, Esther (Julianne Moore), who further impacts upon the life of our somewhat reluctant student. Gordon-Levitt's smart, tight screenplay is virtually limited to these eight characters, and each is deftly drawn. Performances are immaculate - great casting and undoubtedly good direction from the filmmaker. Danza and, particularly, Headly are a delight while Scarlett Joansson is at her most beguiling, all sweetness and ruthlessness and hysterically funny. I don't think this girl is capable of a poor performance. Coming off least successfully is Julianne Moore, but that is due primarily to the fact that we have seen her do this character and in this type of situation before. She's good, but pales beside the others. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is spectacular. With his body reshaped, pumped and lithely muscular, he moves around his world like a cross between John Travolta and Fred Astaire. It's a dazzling, virtuoso performance.
Technically the film is most impressive. The excellent photography by Thomas Kloss (Conan the Barbarian) makes full use of the widescreen, filling each frame with action and interesting compositions. There is an unusual look to many takes, with camera angles explored by director and cinematographer. My only complaint would be the steadicam wobbles utilised in the final section of the film. I found this jarring, and not at all supportive of the change in tone of the film. The colour design is stunning, with vibrant primaries bursting from the screen. Note the design of the club early in the film, almost totally blue with Scarlett Johansson's red dress startlingly contrasted. Another visually stunning sequence is the child's birthday party with the screen an explosion of pink. Similarly the sound design is precise and dynamic, with the bass of much of the music truly booming. Sound is manipulated to provide some exciting sonic experiences, such as, as mentioned again below, the swell of music in the surround channels when Johansson, gloriously sexy, arrives for the lunch date.
From the moment the terrific opening credits begin, this movie has energy, that spark of creativity that has to be in any successful stage production, but is not always essential for a movie. The movie is dynamic, alive and vital - like its protagonist and its star. That energy is evident in the performances, the photography, the editing, the design of the movie, the music ... every aspect of this collaboration has worked, has clicked.. This makes Don Jon an exceptional movie - energetic, vital and alive. I will be very interested to see what Josph Gordon-Levitt does next.
There is a very clever surprise which will delight fans of Anne Hathaway and Channing Tatum.
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Transfer Quality
Video
The transfer of this film is as colourful, vivid and vital as the protagonist himself. Presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, and 16x9 enhanced, the widescreen compositions vary from the solidly traditional to the unusual, with placement of characters and camera angles providing regular jolts of pleasure. The film falls into three acts, for want of a better term, and each act has its own look and feel. This only becomes a little too contrived in the final section. Here the bold and vivid colours of the world of garish TV commercials and porn is replaced by the more sombre, autumnal colours of Julianne Moore's character's world, symbolised by her brilliantly "dressed" apartment. I think it is unfortunate that these are also the natural colours of Miss Moore herself, one of the screen's most distinctive redheads. This contrived colour design, and the switch to the artificial naturalness of hand-held camera wobbles are the only blemishes I can detect in the film. As for other aspects of Thomas Kloss's (Conan the Barbarian) photography, the image is exceptionally sharp, with excellent detail throughout, including the inky black night street scenes. Skin tones are about as good as it gets. This is a top drawer presentation.
Subtitles are white and centred at the foot of the screen. A sampling found them to be accurate.
Video Ratings Summary
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| Film-To-Video Artefacts | |
| Film Artefacts | |
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Audio
There are two audio streams : English Dolby Digital 5.1 Encoded at 448 kBps.
English Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround Encoded at 224 kBps,with option of Audio Description for the Vision Impaired.
The transfer comes with an excellent 5.1 soundtrack. Modest in comparison to a big action feature, pure size of audio is compensated for by an abundance of invention. From the first moments the bass of the Techno music opening is dynamic and exciting.This continues through all of the disco/club scenes. The quirky original score is generously spread around the soundstage and provides a number of exciting aural moments. One standout is Scarlett Johansson's arrival at her lunch date with Gordon-Levitt. As she enters - gorgeously sexy - the music soars thrillingly in the surround channels providing a memorable movie moment indeed. Dialogue is generally front and centre, and brilliant sharp and clear. Surrounds are almost constantly in action, with the sounds of the city, its traffic, restaurants, and clubs providing a solid aural stage for the action.
The Descriptive Narration for the Vision Impaired is of the usual high standard, unusually it is presented by a female.
Audio Ratings Summary
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| Surround Channel Use | |
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| Overall | |
Extras
There are a few very enjoyable extras on this disc. Like the film and its creator, they are short, smart and entertaining.
Menu
The menu screen has a montage of scenes from the film, with music from the soundtrack.
The options offered are :
Play
Scene Selection : The music ceases and there are two sets each of four thumbnails,
Bonus : Featurette : Don Jon / Hitrecord : "My Favourite Things" (3:28)
Short Film : Vinegar (2:22)
Featurette : Making of Don Jon (6:25)
Featurette : Joe's Hats (4:36)
Setup : Options are : Dolby Digital 5.1
Audio Description : Descriptive Narration for the Vision Impaired
Captions : Descriptive Subtitles for the Hearing Impaired
Featurettes :
Don Jon / Hitrecord : "My Favourite Things" (3:28) :
As his "Regular Joe" persona, Joseph Gordon-Levitt interviews cast and others asking "what are your favourite things"? The ratio switches from 1.78:1 for Gordon-Levitt's hosting, to 1.33:1, of rather poor quality, for the interviews, with snippets from the film at 2.35:1.
"Vinegar" : Short Film (2:22) :
Once again hosted by "Regular Joe". The producer, writer, director and star reads a monologue which is animated by Kuki. Good fun presented at 1.78:1.
Making of Don Jon (6:25) :
Gordon-Levitt hosts this 1.78:1 featurette which states that making the movie was "all about collaborating" with "so many great artists". There are unusual, insightful interviews with the Production Designer, Cinematographer, Trainer and Costume Designer. This is a diffent and convincingly genuine approach to "making of" offerings.
Joe's Hats (4:36) :
Same host, and again at 1.78:1. Gordon-Levitt discusses the roles of writing, directing and acting. There is an interesting account of his early short films, and he analyses the three "acts" of Don Jon.
Startup Trailers :
All are quite good quality, and all are 16x9 enhanced.
Afternoon Delight (2:04) :
Presented at the ratio of 1.78:1.
Lovelace (1:56) :
Presented at the ratio of 1.78:1.
The Family (2:20) :
Presented at the ratio of 2.35:1.
Censorship
There is censorship information available for this title. Click here to read it (a new window will open). WARNING: Often these entries contain MAJOR plot spoilers.
R4 vs R1
NOTE: To view
non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually
also NTSC compatible.
The local release certainly misses out, but it is not easy to work out exactly what we miss. Joseph Gordon-Levitt has assembled a fascinating making of featurette, and it has been sliced up somewhat differently between the two releases. Without detailed examination of both releases, suffice to say that the Region A release, the US, has just over thirty-six minutes of featurettes, while our release has sixteen minutes . So, we miss out on approximately twenty minutes, as well as not getting the Theatrical Trailer (2:26). I find this really annoying, and just might turn around and doubleup in order to have a complete release of this extremely interesting film.
Summary
Here is a terrific "little" film, given a first rate transfer on DVD. Funny, inventive, smart and pungent this is a tremendous ninety minutes in the cinema. Performances are great, as are the look and sound of the film. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a very clever young man - writer, producer, director and star of one of the best films of the year. It's a pity that we miss out on about twenty minutes of the extras on the US release.
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© Garry Armstrong (BioGarry)
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
| Review Equipment |
| DVD | SONY BLU RAY BDP-S350, using HDMI output |
| Display | Samsung LA55A950D1F : 55 inch LCD HD.
Calibrated with THX Optimizer. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p.
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| Audio Decoder | Built in to DVD player.
Calibrated with THX Optimizer.
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| Amplification | Onkyo TX-DS777 |
| Speakers | VAF DC-X fronts; VAF DC-6 center; VAF DC-2 rears; LFE-07subwoofer (80W X 2) |
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