Director: Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Year Released: 2013
Rating: 2.5
JGL's directorial debut is actually a quite interesting one: he stars as a Church-going womanizer who happens to find pornography more satisfying than actual intercourse, which leads to his break-up with prickly princess Scarlett Johansson (who inexplicably - like many women in real life - has a real issue with him watching web smut). I think he does a fine job for two-thirds of the movie, with the repetitive sequencing of shots paralleling his character's addiction (I love how he presents his 'sins' to the priest and keeps getting the same absolution) and the ethnic humor of Jerseyites being a clever tongue-in-cheek nod to the antics of the Jersey Shore crew. As soon as Julianne Moore's weeping widow pops into the movie, however, it sags considerably, never addressing how the older woman (does JGL's smooth talker have Mommy Issues?) can fix and ground him and make him feel genuine affection (why she keeps pursuing him after he consistently rejects her is also a bit of a puzzle). Despite the missteps, it's a decent first feature.
