A radio host from New York City attempts to solve the murder of a girl he hooked up with and travels down south to investigate the circumstances of her death and discover what happened to her.
With “Vengeance,” B.J. Novak proves to be the much-dreaded triple threat; the film’s star, writer, and director. I am familiar with Mr. Novak but never saw him in “The Office,” a TV show everyone raves about but a series that never interested me. As the star, writer, and director, Mr. Novak is more than capable of wearing all three hats, comprehensively and individually. It appears much of the cast from “The Office” have turned their attention to working behind the camera in some capacity, either writing and directing or writing and producing, including Mr. Novak, John Krasinski (“A Quiet Place,” “A Quiet Place II”), and Mindy Kaling (“The Mindy Project”).
In “Vengeance,” Mr. Novak plays Ben Manalowitz, a New York journalist and podcaster looking for the next big story. When he receives a phone call in the middle of the night informing him that his girlfriend Abilene Shaw has passed away, he struggles to remember her name. Looking her up quickly on his phone, he remembers her face and tries to tell the voice on the other end of the line that she was just a casual hook-up but the voice trembles and begs him to come to Texas for her funeral. Ben begrudgingly agrees and makes his way to the Lone Star State but, on his way, formulates a plan to interview the family and make it appear like it’s a story about them and their loss when in reality, it’s about him getting podcast numbers.
Meeting Abilene’s eccentric family, including her brother Ty (Boyd Holbrook), two sisters, Isabella and Jasmine (Isabella Amara and Dove Cameron), and her mother and grandmother, he attends the funeral, and the family asks him to stay in town with them for a while. He begins interviewing family and friends, but when Ty insists that she was murdered, alarm bells go off in Ben’s head, and he reaches out to his editor in New York, Eloise (Issa Rae), and informs her of the new development, which she loves. As he begins to probe deeper, he slowly ascertains that Abilene’s family, as crazy and bizarre as they appear, deep down, loved her more than anything else, and he gradually begins to see this.
After his car is blown up, Eloise informs him that his story is over and to come back to New York, but he refuses to leave, now more determined than ever to unravel the mystery of Abilene’s death, not just for him but for her family so, at long last, they can find closure, once and for all.
Ben starts out as a very unlikable character who is only interested in himself and has no genuine desire to help anybody else. By the time we get to the end of the story, he has learned about loss and defeat, but most importantly, he becomes acquainted with Abilene through old home movies and photographs and learns more about her after her death than when she was alive and realizes she was a wonderful human being, brimming with talent and dry humor who didn’t deserve to die the way she did. While some films show a character’s mandatory evolution, the metamorphosis isn’t always authentic; it transpires because the script says so, not because the character experienced the required enlightenment to honestly believe. Here, Ben slowly opens himself up to those around him so he can begin to understand the people and their culture, and once he does that, his transition begins.
What threw me off from the beginning was that Blumhouse Productions produced “Vengeance.” Hence, as the film progressed, I kept waiting for supernatural or horror elements to occur, but by the movie’s end, I realized it was a straight-up drama, with some thriller elements, with nary a ghost or specter to be seen. I guess Blumhouse is branching out into other genres, which is always good for a production company, but a little confusing for fans who are used to seeing their name synonymous with horror and supernatural stories. “Vengeance” works because of Mr. Novak and his talented cast and crew, and even though the story takes place in Texas, it was shot entirely in New Mexico. The Texas Film Commission needs to get its thumb out of its ass and offer better incentives to filmmakers wanting to shoot here; otherwise, New Mexico will be more than happy to take its place.
In Theaters Friday, July 29th
