Don Jon / Enough Said

Two new comedies explore the topic of “love” with relationships that are a bit more unique than the standard romantic comedy: Don Jon and Enough Said.

In Don Jon, a buffed up Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Jon Martello, a player who is basically The Jersey Shore’s Situation or any other douchebag who scores a lot. Scarlett Johansson plays guidette Barbara Sugarman — basically, Jersey Shore’s Sammi Sweetheart.

Wrestling with different expectations of the opposite sex, these two struggle against a culture full of false fantasies. For Barbara, the fantasies are Hollywood’s romantic movies. For Jon, it’s porn. It’s a lively, timely, and decidedly adult look at relationships, but it’s ultimately just too all-over-the-place for me to recommend beyond a rental (despite a refreshing final bit about sex and love).

Enough Said, also new to theaters, is a different adult take on relationships. In fact, the ads say “At last a movie for adults.” The film explores mid-life romance through multiple couples, and focuses on two post-divorce lost souls who hope to love and trust someone again.

Those two souls are played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus and James Gandolfini and they are are terrific together. Midway through the film, a sitcom-style plot nearly suffocates the authenticity out of this, but ultimately these characters and their dialogue make for a breezy good take on love and middle age.

Simply put: Two pretty good and pretty adult rom-coms.

Award potential: No Oscar noms for either. Enough Said’s Louis-Dreyfus and Gandolfini have a good shot at Golden Globe comedy nominations.

The ten buck review: Don Jon, not worth ten bucks, rent it later. 

Enough Said, worth ten bucks. I almost gave this a rental recommendation too, but it’s worth your money to see one of Gandolfini’s last roles on the big screen.