Vengeance

At the end of July, Vengeance, the film directing debut of BJ Novak, was released into theaters. Vengeance is directed, written by, and stars BJ Novak (Ryan from The Office). It follows Ben, a writer and aspiring podcaster from New York, as he is drawn to Texas to investigate the death of a girl he hooked up with. Once there he meets the girl's family and discovers that the answers may not be as obvious as they seem.

Vengeance was a very well done and interesting movie. BJ Novak was able to produce a film that has excitement, intrigue, and comedy without having one tone overpowering the other. The overall flow of the story feels very much like a true crime podcast with the structure of the story and how different characters and introduced and used. The film is also able to pull off a good amount of comedy as well. The comedy is not slapstick or in-your-face but is more of a subtle comedy mostly due to the fish-out-of-water aspect of the story of a New Yorker in small-town Texas. It is really funny to see Ben struggle with and not understand how things are run in this small town as compared to the big city. The movie also perfectly characterizes the feel of small town USA in the unity of the people as well as the southern hospitality and the overall trusting and friendly nature of everyone. It really makes the small town in Texas feel like its own character that Ben has to learn about. The family characters are also very well portrayed and act exactly how one would expect a small-town Texan to behave both with their conspiracy theories and their pride in the US and Texas. Ben is also a very well-written character and goes through a very strong arc in the film. He first comes across as self-centered and wants to just use everyone to get what he wants. But as time goes on, he learns what family feels like and becomes a much less selfish person. Finally, the Ashton Kutcher character is really good as he delivers some well-written monologs while also coming across as inspiring.

The only thing that holds this movie back for me is that it didn't quite know how to land the story in the end. Literally, the movie is fine until the last 3 minutes of the film. The ending here just does not seem like something that was set up throughout the film and doesn't feel like a natural direction to go. It doesn't ruin the movie for me but I just wish BJ Novak could have figured out a better way to end the story.

Overall, this is a well-written, well-directed movie that perfectly encompasses the feel of a southern small town. Had the movie been able to stick the landing a little better, the film could've been even better. Nonetheless, it is still a great directorial debut for BJ Novak.

Score:8/10 Grade: A- Recommendation: Check it out

R Rating Disclaimer: This movie is rated R for language. However, the language is few and far between and could probably be handled by someone who does not like a lot of F-bombs.