And in some respect, Ben is meant to see the error of his past “relationships” in this one woman. We soon learn the other unsavory ways Ben ignored her. For one, he barely saw Abilene as more than a hookup, even though she seemed to believe their relationship meant more. Refreshingly, we’re not meant to like Ben he’s a distasteful, exploitative human being.
Novak’s Vengeance, a well-meaning satire seeking to humanize an oft-misunderstood portion of the country, treads best when critiquing the blind spots held by outsiders, even while stumbling over an overbaked ending. What if he can leverage these gun-toting, conspiracy believing bumpkins to tell the story of America? Her family, believing she was murdered, wants vengeance for her death.
And yet, everyone swears the sweet Abilene, who harbored dreams of music stardom, wouldn’t take Advil – much less any opioids. She died of an overdose in a barren, jack pump oil field. The woman in question is Abilene Shaw (Lio Tipton).
He thinks he might’ve found his story when he visits Texas to attend the dead woman’s funeral, only to discover the family believes him to be her boyfriend. But Eloise tells him to first find a story fashioned to strike the heart of America. Put plainly: He’s a straight white man who finds his perspective imperative purely because it’s his perspective. His friend and editor Eloise (a delightful Issa Rae) hears Ben’s plans with a twinge of incredulousness. Vengeance, a narrative concerned with subverting expectations, primarily builds itself around Ben, a self-absorbed, elitist east coast writer for The New Yorker, aiming to start a podcast in the hopes his voice might make a difference. What begins as a modern-day version of Swingers becomes far more revelatory and mature than one would expect. He dates so many women that when he gets a frantic phone call in the middle of the night from a bereaved man in Texas, telling him of a woman’s death, Ben doesn’t immediately know who the person could be. The closest you should come to settling down, John explains, is dating two or three women rather than six or seven. Novak’s feature directorial debut Vengeance, Ben (Novak) and John (John Mayer, his only appearance in the film) huddle together at a swank New York City rooftop party to talk about their dating philosophies.
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