How Ashton Kutcher drew on ‘Dukes of Hazzard’ to play a Texas baddie in B.J. Novak’s ‘Vengeance’
You hear the movie’s called “Vengeance,” and it’s natural to prepare for much retaliatory mayhem, replete with flexed muscles and perhaps a few surface-to-air missiles.
But this is the first film from B.J. Novak (in theaters Friday), best known as droll wisecracker Ryan Howard in “The Office.”
That means (most of) the mayhem is confined to the mind. Novak, who stars, writes, produces and directs, pours his wry wit and cultural insights into a taut murder mystery – featuring a revelatory appearance by Ashton Kutcher – that tackles a topical question: Why can’t Americans just get along?
“The story started much more personal,” says Novak, 42, referring to a failed relationship that, much like his “Vengeance” character Ben Manalowitz, he wished he’d been more invested in.
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“It soon expanded (to be) about a country filled with missed connections because we are on our phones all the time and rarely have conversations with each other in the moment,” he says.
The plot in brief: When a girl Manalowitz casually dated in New York winds up dead, her West Texas family assumes from social media posts and photos that the couple were close and invites him to the funeral. He obliges.
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Novak’s nerd-out-of-the-Big Apple tale has familiar stylistic echoes.
“It’s like one type of Coen Brothers movie meets another type of Coen Brothers movie, sort of ‘Fargo’ meets ‘No Country for Old Men,’ ” he says. “Both worlds in those movies are totally realistic.”
Novak tapped other friends to help bring “Vengeance” to life. These include guitar ace John Mayer, who makes a convincing cameo as Manalowitz’s shallow partygoing pal. The two talk about girls on a New York rooftop and end most sentences with the affirming catchphrase, “100%!”
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When Novak approached Kutcher about the role at the actor/tech investor’s office – Kutcher’s dozens of investments include early scores with Uber and Airbnb – he immediately knew he’d made the right choice.
“I’ve never seen him in anything where his intellectual charisma is on display,” says Novak, who was regaled with intense discussions about Kutcher’s various investments. “I would have invested all my money right there with him. And that’s the kind of appeal this character had to have.”
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“Vengeance” ultimately is as much a commentary on our tumultuous disconnected times as it is a murder story with heart. As for Kutcher’s own perspectives on today’s stressful times rife with climate woes and the war in Ukraine – his wife, Mila Kunis, was born in Ukraine – the actor waxes philosophical.
“It’s just easy to get trapped in the news cycles,” he says. “We’ve got these machines in our pockets that want to send us notifications. … And they’re going to show you the most aggressive news stories, because that’s what causes you to engage with them.
“So it’s easy to get pessimistic,” Kutcher says. “But when you put your phone away, you remember the majority of people don’t have extreme views. The majority of people aren’t engaging in extreme behavior. They just want to have good happy lives and take care of their kids. And that is something to be extraordinarily optimistic about.”
For Novak, selecting West Texas as the setting for “Vengeance” was simply a matter of looking at a map and choosing a place where he – a Newton, Massachusetts, native and the son of ghostwriter William Novak – would feel instantly out of place.
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“Texas is like the celebrity of states, it’s so mythical, so I knew it would add a whole other element to the movie,” he says. “The Alamo is the foundational myth of Texas, and it’s about a loss. And that loss is a call for vengeance.”
But for Novak, a call for vengeance is not a call for action.
“I do believe that ultimately vengeance is a reckoning with regret,” he says. “This character I play goes to West Texas to meet up with his regret, to meet the person inside of him who he didn’t like, and confront him.”
That’s deep. But to make sure things don’t get too cerebral, “Vengeance” also has laugh-out-loud scenes about rodeos, Texas universities and the burger joint Whataburger. Call it “The Office” meets a West Texas murder.
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