Ben Manalowitz (B.J. Novak), a journalist and podcaster from New York City, travels to West Texas to investigate the death of a girl he was hooking up with.
Her family seems to think they had an intense bond, but, to him, it was nothing more than a Tinder fling. Ben decides to make a podcast out of the eccentric characters he meets in this murder-mystery. In turn, “Vengeance” turns into a sort of live-action version of a podcast. To say more about the plot would ruin some of the surprises in store for the audience.
That’s the gist of Novak’s directorial debut, “Vengeance,” a fine-as-it-goes detective story that tackles the media, American polarization and the opioid crisis. Talk about ambition, Novak’s film has it in spades.
This is a well-directed and paced mystery that never loses its grip on you until its preachy climax shows up. Regardless, it’s a curioys mystery and features what might just be the best performance Ashton Kutcher has ever given us as a sketchy music producer who may have had a romantic connection to the dead girl.
I loved how Novak kept on making parallels between big city detachment and the blue-collar reality of rural America. He’s not patronizing red state America either, just trying to find an understanding of a part of the country that feels incredibly distant from the big city. [B]