Vengeance Movie Review and Spoilers (2022)

Vengeance Movie Review and Spoilers (2022)

I admire creatives who try to bring opposites together. The problem is that most of them are complete and surprising disasters. John Stewart's Irresistible was an exercise in how both sides can pee into the wind without getting their pants wet. At least Craig Zobel's The Hunt is smart and gory and admits how hard it is to get together. And then we have BJ. Novak's first time behind the camera. 

It attempts to capture that sensibility woven into an irreverent Texas Noire that's forced and doesn't always work as intended. However, Vengeance is promising enough to make your investment worth it. Just enough. Novak plays Ben Manalowitz, a hopeful journalist and podcaster. After embracing the cool guy day after day, glued to his phone, and bringing a different woman home every night, he meets a famous podcast producer, Eloise (Issa Rae). 

He wants to do something real, a podcast that will bring a divided country back together. He gets that chance when he gets a  call from a man he's never met before. His name is Ty Shaw (Boyd Holbrook) and he tells Ben that his girlfriend Abilene (Lio Tipton from Crazy Stupid Love) is dead. Here's the problem: Ben has no idea who he's talking about. Even more awkward is that the hot blonde he embedded his snap in is lying next to him. 

 

 Who was Abilene? She is a woman he has dated twice and texted him a couple of times saying she has feelings for him. So Ben travels to Texas to find out what happened here. 

He meets his "girlfriend's" family. He learns that Abilene told her mother Sharon (J. Smith-Cameron) and grandmother (Louanne Stephens) all about Ben. He also had two sisters, Jasmine (Dove Cameron) and Paris (Isabella Amara), who couldn't be more different. A little brother who Ty affectionately calls "El Estúpido," but don't worry, the boy doesn't speak Spanish. 

At least that's what he tells Ben. After the funeral, he is ready to leave, but Ty wants him to stay so he can find his killer. Ben accepts her offer and decides to do a podcast about his new adventure.