Netflix And Chill: Vengeance (2022)

I heard some good things about Vengeance when it came and went a couple of years ago, because it isn't really the kind of film destined to rule the box office for weeks and months, or even days, but I never made it a priority in my overstuffed viewing schedule. I wasn't sure if it would be a film I could actually enjoy, and I don't consider myself a very big fan of writer-director-star B. J. Novak. Thank goodness streaming services often offer you too many options to bamboozle you into making an unexpected choice, which was the case here. I ended up liking this film. A lot.

Novak plays a New York City writer, Ben Manalowitz, who is living so deep in the surreal silliness of modern "culture" that he cannot step back and see himself for the walking parody that he's become. Not that others would notice either, because everyone in the same bubble is busy being ironic and using their phone screens to swipe their way through love, life, and constant content. Things change for Ben, however, when he is invited to the funeral of a young woman, Abilene, by family members who believe that the two were in a serious relationship (although they were just hooking up). That funeral is in West Texas. Abilene's brother, Ty (Boyd Holbrook), believes that her death was a murder, and believes that everything ties to some of the major criminal names in the area, which gives Ben a chance to overcome the creative block he has been experiencing recently. He sees a family in mourning, he sees people seeking connections and explanations where there may not be any, and he sees an opportunity to create a gripping and successful podcast.

I can see people being irritated by the first act of Vengeance. It is exactly what you expect it to be, and the main character is as annoying to spend time with as you may also expect. Things change quite quickly though, and this becomes clear when the plot truly starts to play out. Novak is surprisingly honest, to a degree, with the people around him, and he explains some of his podcast idea and his need to record conversations and get details that will fill in a full story for listeners. Some take fully to the idea, others view it with suspicion while figuring out a way to make the most of the situation. Novak is smart enough to aim at a number of targets, but he's also smart enough to hit a lot of them. The fact that he does it in a way that keeps everything based in a recognisable reality, after the opening exaggerated observations on modern life, makes it all easier to appreciate. It becomes smart while discarding that initial smugness, becomes sweet without ever being maudlin, and allows the lead character a shot at redemption without needing to turn him into an anointed hero.

While the direction is pretty unspectacular, Novak helps the movie immensely by writing such a great script. He then further helps it all by casting a great mix of actors who all feel well-suited to their roles. Holbrook continues to build an impressive filmography, even if he gradually becomes a less important figure here as the plot unfolds, and the always wonderful Lio Tipton portrays Abilene in the fleeting flashbacks that show us snippets of her life. J. Smith-Cameron is Abilene's mother, and she imbues her character with a grace and comforting presence that ensures she is never the butt of any jokes, while  Isabella Amara, Dove Cameron, and Eli Bickel are very good as the other siblings figuring out how to navigate around the Abilene-shaped void in their lives. Issa Rae is superb as the podcast producer, Eloise, giving Ben notes on how to best shape his story, and Ashton Kutcher feels like a very good fit for his character, Quentin Sellers, a record producer who seems to over-use poetry in a way that might be distracting from whatever soundbites Ben is trying to get from him.

This could have easily been stuffed with the laziest observations and character development, but Novak tries hard to pull a number of threads together into a satisfyingly thick narrative rope. He doesn't entirely succeed, there are one or two scenes that feel out of place because of wanting to underline the reversal of Ben's mindset as he learns more about this Texan town and the people he is growing to like, but he does a lot more than others might have done with similar material. Maybe I'll just have to start looking more closely at projects he has been involved with over the years.

8/10

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American Fiction (2023)

I remember a time, back in high school, when I had to write a book report. I thought I did a great job, I worked on it for a long time, and I felt happy with the end result. The teacher handed the report back to me and told ne I had to redo it. Now, I cannot recall how well my original piece was then (I vaguely remember citing specific examples from the text and trying hard to write a proper report, as opposed to a plot summary, but maybe it wasn’t good), but I can tell you what happened next. I felt that I had already put enough time and effort into something I had to completely rewrite. I decided to multi-task during my lunch break, delivering a page or so of what I considered to be absolute twaddle, phrases that my friends and I were laughing about as  I wrote them down. That second incarnation of my book report received depressingly positive feedback, and that is when I realised that you sometimes need to write what people are expecting from you, rather than your absolute truth. It may have also started me on the path away from academia, and the conformity required until you make a unique impact that cannot be ignored.

While this may not seem connected to American Fiction, it really is. This is the tale of a black American writer (Thelonious “Monk” Ellison, played by Jeffrey Wright) who finds himself struggling to sell books in a market that he doesn’t want to be a part of. Resenting the label of “black literature”, with the stereotypes and “trauma porn” often contained within it, Monk seems destined to maintain his integrity at the expense of any major sales opportunities. Until he plays a big hole on everyone, writing a novel full of the kind of garbage that he hates to read, and using the pseudonym Stagg R. Leigh. It is, of course, a huge success, and it just gets more and more praise as Monk tries to make it, and his character, more and more like the content he is mocking.

Based on a book, “Erasure”, by Percival Everett, this is a hell of a directorial debut from Cord Jefferson, who also adapted the source material into screenplay form. Picking at the frayed strands that have been woven together over centuries to make the mixed and vibrant quilt of the USA, nobody here is looking to offer easy answers to things like racial profiling, white guilt, the intersection of art and commerce, and the permission to use the lives of others as inspiration for creative endeavours, among other topics broached. But sometimes you don’t need, and may never get, definitive answers, especially from art. Sometimes it is enough to ask the questions.

Wright is brilliant in a lead role that feels like just the thing he has been long overdue. His character is bitter and acerbic throughout, but he has extra pressures on him, as well as a number of valid points about what he sees going on around him (all underlined by the fact that his joke starts to look like it will be an unstoppable success). There’s a great supporting cast, all holding their own alongside Wright, but other highlights include Sterling K. Brown (a gay sibling working through his feelings in a very different way), Erika Alexander (as Coraline, a potential love interest, but also a reader who has enjoyed previous books written by Monk), John Ortiz (an agent who disapproves of the new book until it gains major traction and sales interest), and Issa Rae (as a successful author, Sintara Golden, who seems to write the exact kind of material that Monk cannot stand). There are also excellent turns from Leslie Uggams (an ailing mother), Myra Lucretia Taylor, Raymond Anthony Thomas, Tracee Ellis Ross, Keith David (basically a cameo, but some Keith David is better than no Keith David), and Adam Brody.

Funny, thought-provoking, moving, and somehow galvanized by the fact that it springboards from a very observable reality all around us, American Fiction is a superb blend of satire and pathos, and I am all the happier if it gives a well-earned boost to the profiles of everyone involved, especially Wright.

8/10

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Netflix And Chill: The Lovebirds (2020)

Director Michael Showalter reteams with star Kumail Nanjiani (after their success with The Big Sick) for this comedy thriller that concerns a couple (Nanjiani and Issa Rae) who have the potential end of their relationship interrupted by an untimely murder. Not that there's ever such a thing as a timely murder.

Rae and Nanjiani are two solid leads, even as we meet them in the midst of growing tension. While in their car, a stranger (Paul Sparks) commandeers their vehicle, using it to kill a man on a bicycle that he was chasing, and then flees. Leilani (Rae) and Jibran (Nanjiani) do not want to stick around at the crime scene. They know things look bad for them, which means they need to show some initiative and try to find the killer. This brings them into contact with other bad people (such as Edie, played by Anna Camp), forces them to make up a story as they get friends helping them, and obviously has them reappraising how they view one another.

Written by Aaron Abrams and Brendan Gall, The Lovebirds is a film that doesn't do enough to help the talented leads. The main premise is very familiar, and could be used to add on a whole load of jokes, but it's all put together in a way that feels very paint-by-numbers. There's no tension here, which wouldn't be so bad if the laughs kept coming, but there's also not enough comedy, so little of it that the leads feel restricted by the way the script doesn't let them be as funny as fans know they can be.

Showalter goes through the motions with his direction, but he is equally responsible for failing his leads. Set-pieces are too low-key, the pacing feels off, despite the film coming in at just under the 90-minute mark, and the plot just feels like it's getting in the way of the characters being able to act in a way that could be much more entertaining.

I feel a bit patronising going on about how good both Rae and Najiani are, despite being hampered by the material, but they make the movie watchable. I have liked Nanjiani for a good few years now, but I wasn't familiar with Rae, who works wonderfully both on her own and alongside her co-star. Sparks is fine, with limited screentime, and Camp does her best to steal the scenes that she features in, and Andrene Ward-Hammond is a typically stolid cop trying to catch a criminal as some innocent people complicate the matter more than they should.

I did laugh, now and then, and there's a fun little punchline at the very end of the movie to pay off a small gag from earlier, but I spent most of the runtime just willing The Lovebirds to be better, for me and for the cast. It doesn't manage that. It just manages to be above average. Just. Not far enough above average to make it worth recommending though.

6/10

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