Mark Twain’s quote, “Don’t let the truth get in the way of a good story,” comes to mind when watching “Revenge,” BJ Novak’s terrific directorial debut about a New York writer who inexplicably becomes involved in a murder investigation in West Texas.
Ben Manalowitz (Novak) is a know-it-all Brooklyn hipster who overuses the phrase “100 percent.” One morning, he is awakened by a phone call from a stranger, Ty Shaw (Boyd Holbrook), who tells him “the worst news you’ll ever hear”: your girlfriend, Ty’s sister, Abilene (Lio Tipson), has died. However, Ben is in bed with another girl at the time, and Abilene was just one of Ben’s many hookups. Of course, Ty, in his grief, won’t want to hear this, so Ben reluctantly goes to the funeral, where he’s even asked to speak! – by a dead young woman he barely knew.
It would be easy to dismiss “Revenge” for its unlikeable hero and flimsy plot at this point, but that would be a mistake. This movie is just getting started and it throws off some delicious surprises that upend expectations while also making some deep and pretentious comments about life, America, and civilization as we know it.
The plot kicks into gear when Ty tells Ben that he thinks his sister didn’t die of an overdose – she wouldn’t touch an aspirin! He wants Ben to help him find the killer and get revenge. Ben sees this as an opportunity to do a podcast for Eloise (Issa Rae), and presents the story as an “In Cold Blood”-like case study of the grieving family and, podcast catnip, a girl dead white It’s an existential crime story and a portrait of America “struggling with a truth that’s too hard to accept.”
Like “Only Murders in the Building,” “Vengeance” becomes hard to resist. Yes, it’s a fish-out-of-water story, where the smart New Yorker despises Middle America and gun-toting Texans. But Abilene’s sister Paris (Isabella Amara) has read Chekhov—whom Ben points at with a gun, and shoots himself—and Ben has to sheepishly admit that he hasn’t read the Russian playwright. Similarly, when Ben meets Quentin Sellers (Ashton Kutcher), a local music producer, he is unexpectedly impressed by the man’s erudition and how he can persuade a performer to give him his best.
“Revenge” is both smart and too smart, as its characters express ideas about art and culture as well as humanity and hamburgers. The film is funny, poking fun at smug, self-important types, who are mocked right next to their jeans. And the crime-solving is fun, too, as Ben interacts with four different police departments, each of which has his share of fun.
Yet Novak’s film also seduces viewers with the same murder-with-kindness approach that Abilene’s family applies to Ben. They are nice people, who are more than the stereotypes they rely on or subvert. When Ben tries to get the Shaws to define their love for Whataburger, and they can’t, he doesn’t get it. Then he finally has one, and he can’t define it either. In one of the film’s best bits of absurdist humor, Ben is asked at a rodeo what he does, and when he tries to complain that he’s a writer, not a horseman, he’s called “a condescending a-hole.”
Issa Rae as Eloise and BJ Novak as Ben Manalowitz in “Vengeance” (Patti Perret/Focus Features
“Vengeance” has fun taking Ben down a peg or six even as he begins to appreciate his new surroundings and admits to liking Frito Pie. (He tells Eloise, it’s a bag of Fritos, cut open, with chili poured in and eaten from the bag with a fork. She finds it gross.)
Novak also makes Ben likable when he has a nervous meeting with Sancholo (Zach Villa), the local drug dealer, about Abilene’s death. Their exchange is a highlight, as are Ben’s bedroom chats with El Stupido (Eli Bickel), Abilene’s ghost-fearing younger brother. There is a disarming wit and wisdom in these conversations, as well as the ones Ben has with Quentin. It’s Quentin who tells Ben to “Listen to what’s around you and repeat what you hear.” Ben becomes more observant if not smarter. A cop teases him for noticing cowboy prints at the crime scene, but he comes to understand that line dancing is a form of “collective consciousness.”
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As his podcast clips get Eloise’s approval, “Vengeance” throws some curveballs that force Ben out of the rabbit hole he’s fallen down. This gives the film some momentum, which it needs to not overstay its welcome. Watching Ben slowly piece together hard truths is rewarding, as well as how things come together and resolve themselves.
The murder story is mostly an excuse for culture shock comedy, but it all makes sense. “Revenge” is tackling questions of identity, myth and cultural appropriation, but it’s self-aware enough to call itself out while doing it. Part of that is Novak’s script, which is as smart as it gets.
But as a director, Novak wisely lets scenes unfold and gives space to the other characters who enjoy big moments. The supporting cast is perfect, with Ashton Kutcher particularly outstanding in his role as a cosmopolitan cowboy.
“Vengeance” is as entertaining as it is unconventional, and it showcases Novak’s talents both in front of and behind the camera.
“Vengeance” hits theaters on July 29. Watch a trailer on YouTube.
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