Vengeance: A Very Funny and Thought-Provoking Murder Mystery!

This is the first movie by Writer/Director/Star, B.J. Novak, who was also a co-writer and actor on the TV show “The Office.”  The film received good reviews (RT: Critics 80%, Fans 84%), but I thought it was even better.  So far, it’s my second-favorite 2022 film, behind “Top Gun: Maverick” and just nosing out “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.”  It’s consistently funny and there are many LOL moments.  What makes the movie really special and even a MUST-SEE, however, is that it is also a serious and thought-provoking drama.  The screenplay is fantastic and deserves an AA nomination, as does the film.

Ben Manalowitz (B.J.Novak) is a writer for “The New Yorker,” but he has much larger ambitions.  He is self-absorbed, has a higher-than-warranted opinion of himself, and isn’t interested in a serious romantic relationship.  He just hooks-up with women a few times and then moves on to another.  He doesn’t give the consequences of his behavior on the women a second thought.  Ben is woken up in the middle of the night (with a woman in his bed) and told by Ty Shaw (Boyd Holbrook) that his girlfriend Abilene – aka “Abby” – is dead and that he needs to come to Texas ASAP to attend her funeral!  Ben doesn’t even remember her, but he nevertheless agrees to go.  Abby comes from a one-horse town in Texas, in the middle of nowhere.  She left Texas for New York to follow her dream to be a singer.  Apparently, she has died from a drug overdose.

When Ben arrives, he meets Abby’s family, including two other brothers, a sister, and her mother, Sharon (J. Smith-Cameron).  Ty tells Ben that Abby “wouldn’t even touch an Advil,” so he is convinced that Abby was murdered, possibly even by the Mexican drug cartel!  Ben, in a moment of inspiration, realizes that this situation would make a great podcast, since these Texas characters and the situation are really interesting.  He calls his friend Eloise (Issa Rae), who agrees to help him produce the podcast.  Ben starts interviewing people in the town to try to discover the murderer (if there was one).  He wants to understand why Abby might have overdosed, and, to this end, he has multiple interviews with her record producer, Quentin Sellers (Aston Kutcher).

The conversations Ben has with all of these characters are fascinating and cover all kinds of topics including the meaning of life, religion, love, family, and the polarization of society, among others.  Kutcher is terrific and gives an AA worthy performance, but his part isn’t long or demanding enough for him to get nominated.

I don’t knw how much of a hit this movie will be, since it doesn’t seem to have much marketing behind it, so I would see it ASAP at the theater (if you are willing to risk getting COVID.  Rob and I go to the earliest show on Sunday, and there is hardly anybody there.)  A few days after seeing the movie, Rob told me that “This film really made me think ‘long and hard.’ – That’s what she said!”