Vengeance review: A thriller that needs Only Murders in the Building energy

Podcasting and television have some mutual compatibilities: Podcasts become TV shows, TV shows inspire watch-along podcasts, and just about everyone loves the half-spoof/half-tribute pulled off by Nur Murders are allowed in the Building. Podcasts and movies aren’t quite so chummy. Podcasts are full of conversation. MoreCinema, aside from occasional sneering humors (such as the Podcast-obsessed, nerdy character Podcast), Ghostbusters: AfterlifeThe minutiae involved in podcasting are often overlooked by most people. That emphatically isn’t the case with B.J. Novak’s new thriller, Vengeance, which may include more details about the podcasting process than any mainstream movie that isn’t a documentary.

It’s not that podcasting is truly a passion for New York City writer Ben Manalowitz (Novak). It’s more of an item on a checklist for a successful, young-ish big-city media person. Ben is already an editor at The New Yorker, but he still longs to be a contributor. When he corners successful podcast producer Eloise (Issa Rae) at a party, he wants to pitch something for her NPR-like company — even though he doesn’t really have a concrete story in mind.

Photo: Karen Kuehn/Focus Features

But a story falls into his lap due to a mishap from another form of checklisting: Ben’s indulgence in hookup culture, evident from his first scene of banter with a friend played by musician John Mayer. Ben receives a phone call from Abilene’s family (Lio Tipppton), telling him his girlfriend had died. The catch is, Abilene wasn’t Ben’s girlfriend, just a casual hookup he barely knew. At the insistence of Abilene’s brother Ty (Sandman villain Boyd Holbrook), Ben heads to Texas for Abilene’s funeral, where the rest of her family insists that her death could not have been an accidental overdose as the police claim.

Ben doubts that’s true, while also figuring that the family’s delusions of a vast, murderous conspiracy might be the grabby podcast topic he’s been looking for. Though initially wary of him, Eloise agrees, and Ben begins investigating Abilene’s life and death.

The intriguing queasiness of this situation mirrors the movie itself, which attempts to mine both fish-out-of-water comedy and a genuine sense of mystery from Ben’s bumbling but not entirely incapable sleuthing. Novak is eager to show he’s in on the joke of Ben’s East Coast condescension to the point of giving Abilene’s family little “gotcha” moments of awareness, just to show how non-stereotypical they are.

At the same time, the movie periodically reminds the audience that yes, guns and fast food are a major part of the Texas crowd’s American life. The fact that Ben himself is self-conscious about his possible East Coast condescension adds another layer — and so does the fact that he engages in it anyway. But those extra layers don’t necessarily enrich the experience of watching the movie. Eventually, Vengeance starts to feel a bit like a distended meme, tracking the gifted-kid-to-compromised-murder-investigator pipeline.

Even so, the movie isn’t easy to dismiss. Its awkward comedy is often funny, and its shadowy mystery is compelling, because Abilene’s death does become more of an enigma to Ben as he learns more about her. These characters are brought to life by performers as diverse as Holbrook and Ashton Kutcher.

Photo: Patti Perret/Focus Features

Novak is self-aware and plays the lead role. This creates an unfilled space at the heart of the story. It is possible that this was intentional and even self-lacerating. His charismatic and effortless charm makes him less entertaining, but it is what would make him unnerving. His affable blandness eventually curtails the movie’s greater ambitions.

Novak could be seeking something more complex than an East Coaster’s new perspective on the South. Certainly Ben’s less ostentatious, more insidious style exists in the world of New York media, and would be easy to mistake for learned sensitivity, especially during a one-night stand. VengeanceHowever, o isn’t a quick fix and the attempts at generating a more moral awakening for Ben don’t work.

At first, it seems like the movie might treat podcasting as a sour punchline — a stand-in for Ben’s empty, self-impressed striving. By the end of the film, it is clear that the movie has bigger goals than podcasting. At times, VengeanceThe film seems to aim for universal satire, with a touch of empathy. It is similar to the Alexander Payne movies. But it often looks more like a hall full of mirrors with many culture-clash illusions waving to each other in self aware acknowledgment.

VengeanceOn July 29, the film will be released in theatres.