Ty Watches "Vengeance"

Over the weekend my wife and I watched the movie "Vengeance" on our date night. I had heard about this movie a while back. I do not remember exactly where I heard about it, probably a podcast, but it intrigued me.

For those that may not know, "Vengeance" is a movie written and directed by BJ Novak, Ryan from the American "Office". His character is a podcaster who goes to a remote town in Texas to help investigate a possible murder. That is the Cliff's Notes version. The movie received pretty positive reviews, I like BJ Novak and I enjoy podcasts very much. It hit all the marks for me. And the movie delivered.

Again, I enjoyed this movie quite a bit. It wasn't what I thought it was going to be, and that is a good thing. The movie constantly surprised me. I really liked the direction and sudden changes that they made throughout. BJ Novak took this personality, this famous podcaster personality, and flipped it on its head. He goes to this town because a girl he had a fling with suddenly died. Her family called him, thinking he was her boyfriend, and got him to come out to help investigate. At first it seems like she overdosed, but the family suspects foul play. Novak's character takes this story and flips it. He wants to do an episode of his show where a family won't accept things and give us other stories to justify a sudden death.

Outside of Novak the main cast is great. Issa Rae is his producer. She is wonderful. Rae is such a reliable actor and she always hits the mark. She was wonderful here. Boyd Holbrook plays a mourning brother and he is a delight. It may sound weird to call his character a "delight", but it is true. He is funny. He has a plan. He loves his family. He was very good here. Dove Cameron and Isabella Amara are the sisters and they are equally funny. They have little to do, but when they get time to shine, they own it. J Smith Cameron is the mom and she is perfect as a grieving mother trying to come to grips with her new reality. Eli Bickel is fascinating as the youngest brother that everyone dumps on all the time. He was fantastic. All the other bit parts, like a cartel leader, the brother's best friend, random town people, even Lio Tipton, who plays the deceased, do great with their small roles.

Surprisingly, it was Ashton Kutcher that really shined here. This is a role that is perfect for him. He got to play a music executive who has some dark secrets. He was so good. He was understated. But when he had a monologue to give, he really hit a home run. I was floored at how impressed I was with him in this movie. It gives me hope that he will continue to do stuff like this. This role proves to me why he is a professional actor.

I liked this movie a lot. It was a paint by colors murder mystery, but had more edge to it. The jokes were great. The story moved very well. Novak seemed to have a blast making this movie and it shows on screen. I love the route they took with podcasts and how they have gotten so big. But what I loved most was the way the finale unfolded. They could have gone one way but they chose, in my opinion, the right way to go. Even my wife said she liked the direction they took. They did it the right way, and the best way they could have finished the movie.

I definitely recommend this movie. It is on Peacock if you have that streaming service, and I'm sure you can rent it on VOD or Amazon. Go check this movie out. It is a good change of pace and totally worth your time. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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