B.J. Novak’s directorial debut Vengeance is now available to stream on Netflix.
The comedian is best known for starring as Ryan Howard in The Office US and has also had roles in The Mindy Project, Inglourious Basterds, and Saving Mr Banks.
In 2022, the accomplished star wrote, directed, executive produced, and starred in Vengeance, which follows the story of New York journalist Ben Manalowitz (Novak).
He receives a phone call from a stranger, Ty Shaw (Boyd Holbrook), who tells him that a woman who he had a romantic fling with, Abilene Shaw (Lio Tipton) has died of a drug overdose, prompting him to travel to West Texas to investigate.
The cast also includes the likes of Dove Cameron, Issa Rae, and Ashton Kutcher, and was produced by Jason Blum under Blumhouse Productions.
It premiered at Tribeca Festival on June 12, 2022, and currently boasts a strong 82% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, certifying it fresh.
The Daily Telegraph said: ‘It’s caustic, clever, and shallow entertainment, usually all at once.’
Chicago Reader added: ‘It’s a story about a storyteller who is creating a story about how mythology (stories) are created. It is also an acute reminder of how easy it can be to hide secrets in plain sight.’
Rolling Stone wrote: ‘A good thing about Vengeance is that Ben is played by B. J. Novak, who also wrote and directed the movie, and who’s succeeded at coming up with a project that matches his comedic style: likably unlikable, the kind of p***k you’d still watch a movie about.’
RogerEbert.com summarised: ‘A jumbled, fitfully amusing, occasionally fascinating effort, but one that shows promise even when stumbling over its ambition.
Novak previously opened up on the pressure he experienced taking on multiple jobs when it came to creating Vengeance and what he learned from the production.
‘Any employee can get impatient. When I’m the boss of a film set, I am humbled and in awe of all the jobs that everybody has to do,’ he told NPR.
‘How do I keep everyone happy, how do I keep them motivated … I was much nicer and more professional and more respectful of everyone’s job than I’ve ever been when I realized that it fell on my shoulders.’
He also spoke about working with The Butterfly Effect star Kutcher, who appears as music producer Quentin Sellers in Vengeance.
‘Ben goes to make fun of him, but ends up meeting someone way smarter and more charismatic and intelligent even than he thinks he is,’ Novak explained about the film.
‘And he’s really blown away by the surprises in Texas and what [Kutcher’s character] tells him about the people there … And really who better than Ashton Kutcher for that, who is so easy to underestimate … [but] in reality is this brilliant producer and tech investor.
‘My first job on camera was pulling pranks for him on Punk’d … He was very detail-oriented, meanwhile he’s wearing the trucker hat and he just looks like this kind of iconic celebrity. But he was calling all the shots.’
Vengeance is available to stream now on Netflix.
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