"Scarlett! Look at me! I've loved you more than I've ever loved anyone and I've waited for you longer than I've ever waited for any woman." -- Rhett Butler, Gone with the Wind (1939)
Jon (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is not Rhett Butler, but once he sees Barbara (Scarlett Johansson) he's willing to wait. Even if that means waiting a whole month, which he technically does. During that period, he even agrees to do other things that Barbara suggests, such as taking a night class. She "rewards" him in the hallway outside her apartment, but as I say, technically, she forces him to wait a whole month.
(When Scarlett Johanson prepared for her role in this one, I feel like she watched a bunch of Fran Dresser "The Nanny" episodes and followed that up with a few Mariah Carey interviews when she's especially playing up her New York accent. Other viewers have pointed out the accents, so I won't belabor the point... but man... are they meant to stand out that much?)
Right from the start, Jon is a pretty off-putting character. He narrates, and I always wonder: Who would the character be narrating this story for? I get that he might tell his priest about all the porn he watches, for example, but is that something he and his buddies would openly talk about? Who would he ever talk about this with?
Jon has a serious addiction, and in the narration, he tries to explain it. Yes, he still likes to hook-up with women, but the guy isn't into relationships, and he doesn't even find satisfaction in the hook-ups, really. Maybe he's a representation of men in his generation. He cannot get close to real women. He can only "connect" to the images he sees on the screen.
At the same time, he does seem fascinated, and maybe a little sad, that Barbara can "connect" to romance as presented in mainstream film. His point of view seems to be that mainstream romances in film are every bit as "fake" as the reality projected in pornography, and yet, no one would criticize fans of romance. They don't need to go to confession to seek forgiveness if they go and watch Ghost or Bridget Jones Diary.
Whether Jon has an addiction or not, and he certainly does, it's interesting that Barbara is the one who comes off as controlling. She is the one that attempts to change Jon. Not only does she want him to go to school, but she wants him to pursue a career -- being a bartender isn't good enough -- and she doesn't even want him cleaning his own apartment, because that's what a cleaning service is for. (Jon's sister will only speak one in the film, but she basically says the same thing: Barbara was controlling, and it was for the best that they broke up.)
So, while Jon might think Barbara is the "perfect" woman, that's highly debatable. Maybe Esther (Julianne Moore) is a better match. He meets her at night school, and although she's 20 years older, when she happens to see him watching porn on his phone during class, it doesn't turn her off. Instead, she gives him a DVD of an old Danish porn, because, she says, she wants him to watch something "better." That might sound like she is sort of trying to change Jon, too, but it's different in the sense that she only wants him to watch the "best," whereas to be "best" to Barbara, he had to slowly change everything about himself.
Barbara does end up checking Jon's search history, and she breaks up with him on the spot. Maybe because he watches porn, but maybe more so because he's been lying to her about it. But later, after the break-up, he will invite her to coffee, and they will discuss things. He's learned something. She hasn't. He was selfish and admits it. She was selfish, but he cannot get her to see how her attempts to change him were just as bad...
Ultimately, the ending won me over. I was pleasantly surprised at how the film concludes. Does Jon still watch porn or not? Likely not, but even if he does, he has been able to do what Esther tells him he needs to do if he wants to have a real relationship: Treat love as a two-way street. Lose yourself in another person, and if that person is also able to lose themselves in you, then you really have something special.
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
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