Vengeance

Vengeance

Starring B.J. Novak, Boyd Holbrook, Issa Rae, Ashton Kutcher

Directed by B.J. Novak

It's all the rage today to bring up the topic of politics in America, and how it's been fracturing the country more intently over the last few years. It's not just "red" and "blue" states anymore, but reactionary (those opposed to the social transformation of society and would rather go back to the old ways of doing things) and progressive (those who embrace the social transformation and wants to look forward to a more accepting, tolerant society), and these two divides are becoming greater and greater and more and more boisterous, leaving those of us in the middle wondering what the heck is going on. Hollywood has obviously taken advantage of this hot button issue as the likes of Jon Stewart have brought these political leanings to the big screen, and now it's "The Office" star and co-writer B.J. Novak to give his take, but unlike Stewart's "Irresistible," "Vengeance" tells a bigger story and doesn't limit the characters to cookie cutter caricatures but gives them more meatier roles to chew on, thanks to Novak's exceptional writing.

Ben Manalowitz (B.J. Novak) is a New York journalist who sleeps around and feels that it's the normal thing to do - monogamy is outdated and life is too short to adhere to the old norms - and is wanting to start his own podcast with his producer Eloise (Issa Rae), but he doesn't know what to do the podcast about. One night he gets a call from Ty Shaw (Boyd Holbrook) telling him that Ty's sister Abilene (Lio Tipton) has died, and he wants Ben to go to Texas for the funeral because they were boyfriend and girlfriend - but Ben hardly remembers her, as she was just one in a long line of one night stands. Despite his hesitation, Ben travels to Texas for the funeral where he meets Abilene's mother Sharon (J. Smith-Cameron), sisters Kansas City (Dove Cameron) and PAris (Isabella Amara), younger brother Mason (Elli Abrams), and grandmother Carole Shaw (Louanne Stephens). After the funeral he plans on heading back home, but Ty tells him that Abilene didn't die of an overdose - but she was murdered, and he thinks it was a local drug cartel leader who did it. Seeing this as his podcast opportunity, Ben agrees to stay and record everything as he feels this would be a great topic: not the death itself, but the idea of vengeance, grief, and denial in a fast-growing disconnected world.

As Ben and Ty investigate the possible crime, however, Ben begins to think that Abilene might have been murdered, and it seems that someone doesn't want them investigating the crime. An eccentric cast of possible culprits - including the drug dealer Sancholo (Zach Villa) and Abilene's record producer Quenten Sellers (Ashton Kutcher) - dot the barren Texas landscape, and as Ben spends more time with Abilene's family, the more he thinks that his narrow-minded focus is the real thing that's out of date and disconnected.

"Vengeance" is one of those good old fashioned possible murder mysteries with a unique setting, setting up the stage for a challenging viewpoint as to how we see people who live between the two coasts. Despite offering cliches on both sides of the spectrum - how Texans love rodeos, love their guns, and eating at Whataburger, and how New Yorkers are snooty, condescending, and holds no family values - it also opens the eyes of the viewers to the nuances of each, giving all the supporting characters real moments to shine and really impact the viewer more than just a simple satirical film. It's a delicate line to balance on, and B.J. Novak manages to craft a tale that's filled with suspense, excitement, and mystery, as well as humor, heart, and existential quandaries.

Ben arrives in Texas for the funeral of a fling he had, and not even he understand why - and neither does anyone else. After a humorously uncomfortable funeral, he's about to close the book on Abilene when he's pulled into her possible murder mystery, using this as a launching pad for his new podcast - looking at how grief and denial affect people, and introducing the social elite to a different world that they haven't heard from before. He makes some valid arguments about how we're no longer connected (we don't talk on the phone anymore, but instead text one another where it could be days between saying "hi" to one another) and how vengeance is itself a unique emotion as it centers on moving backward instead of forward, but it seems that it's something Texans seem very comfortable with. When he tells Ty they should go to the cops, Ty scoffs him (as does everyone else he talks to about it), because in Texas it's all about "Texas justice" rather than American justice, taking the Bible verse "an eye for an eye" literally - something Ben discovers when he interviews the police who sends him literally on a wild goose chase going between local, state, and federal offices who each tell him to go to another place. While I never lived in Texas, I could see this as being something that Texans do, but as it is with Hollywood, not to this extreme - or at least I hope.

As the mystery builds, the suspense amps up as well, but the comedy never lets up. It's a dark comedy through and through, and there's several gut-rolling moments that help alleviate the tension. From the cliches tossed between the characters to the "fish out of water" Ben who's the only one who cheers for the University of Texas (apparently you don't do that in Texas) and who attends every interview in a button-up shirt and slacks as everyone else is wearing cowboy hats and boots. B.J. Novak isn't afraid to make fun of himself, and it's refreshing to see someone who doesn't mind having jabs taken at him for how others think he sees the world.

The Shaw family could've been written as mere satire, but Novak gives them each their own story: Ty might be a red-blooded gun-toting vengeance-seeking Texan, but he's also rather smart in his own right, and Boyd Holbrook relishes in the role. Kansas City and Paris might not understand the nuances of drinking coffee, but they desperately miss their sister. Mason (who the family calls "El Stupido") still sleeps at the floor of Abilene's bed as he did when she was alive because he's afraid of ghosts. Mother Sharon is enduring a pain that no parent should endure, and has a surprisingly deep moment near the end. Even grandmother Carole has her moments, the most hilarious being when she talks about not needing a .45 to solve the problem, but instead every other gun imaginable.

Even the supporting characters have their tender and thoughtful moments. Issa Rae shines in a very small role as Eloise, Ben's manager, who starts off wanting a story and for Ben to be careful (in that order) to wanting Ben to be careful and then find the story after she learns - along with Ben - that there might be something more than what their narrow-minded eyes see. Ashton Kutcher gives one of his best performances as music producer Quenten Sellers, who is fully aware of how he's perceived (he calls Ben out on it, saying he figured Ben saw him as a simple-minded hillbilly record producer) but waxes philosophical in ways that really makes the audience think. When the story culminates, it feels like a slow-building avalanche that all of a sudden cascades down the mountain and completely disarms the viewer who's been continually dulled down by the comedy to not recognize the deeper meanings that've permeated in their being until it's too late, and they're left contemplating the bigger aspects of the world not confined by a simple sound bite.

There's a phrase mentioned several times in the film by the Shaw family - "heart sees heart" - and "Vengeance" surprisingly proves that statement true. Even though the title feels like you'll be watching an adrenaline-fueled mindless action epic, instead it's a small, nuanced film about how prejudices cloud our judgment and forces us to see the world through tinted glasses, and not with out hearts. When we see the world for how it truly is, we'll be slower to anger and quicker to forgive, as we see the world through the eyes of different people who all call this amazing patchwork that's called America home.

The Score: A