Vengeance is a new theatrical release written, directed, and starring BJ Novak (Ryan from The Office). It’s a movie with thoughts in its head. With ideas. It’s smart and witty and made me feel melancholic as I walked out of the theater.

BJ Novak plays a New York writer who gets roped into attending a funeral in Texas for a woman he hooked up with once or twice. Her brother is sure she was murdered and wants to know if he’ll help him get vengeance. Novak thinks he’s got these bumpkins figured out so he decides what this story needs is a podcast. Something about America and Americans and the human condition… about true crime… or something like that. We’ll workshop it.

This is a thoughtful comedy drama (inexplicably released by Blum House) that’s trying to get at something about America. Sometimes it’s about podcasts and true crime, sometimes its about the cultural divide, and sometimes it’s about how we’re all really the same. Maybe there’s one too many ideas, maybe it’s thinking too hard about ’em, but at least it’s thinking about them.

Indeed, sometimes it felt like BJ Novak already knew the answers and this whole thing was just him laying out his thesis. But, again, that’s ok. He’s not a dummy and hasn’t written a dumb script with dumb ideas. If there’s a clunkiness that occasionally creeps in, at least he’s trying.

I laughed pretty consistently at this gentle comedy. And then I’d be surprised at how human these characters and caricatures were allowed to be. When a wild Ashton Kutcher suddenly appears, you think he’ll be a hick and then you think he’ll just be full of shit, but then he starts spouting wisdom and interesting thoughts that make you think. Maybe it’s all malarkey or thoughts you think when you’re high, but I found it interesting.

I dig this flick. I walked out thinking it was solid and then I realized I was in a strange mood from having seen it. And I was thinking about it and the thinking about it grew and melancholy settled in. It reminds me of my feelings after seeing Nicholas Cage’s Pig. That deserves a higher score.

Score: 90