Vengeance

“Vengeance” is a 2022 Drama/Comedy starring B.J. Novak (The Office), Boyd Holbrook (Logan), Ashton Kutcher (The Butterfly Effect), Issa Rae (The Lovebirds), Louanne Stephens (Longmire), and Zach Villa (American Horror Story).

A playboy from NY City, who jumps from woman to woman, is trying to make it in the podcast scene. He receives a phone call from a woman’s brother, who he hooked up with a few times, telling him his girlfriend is dead. The woman’s family thinks he is her boyfriend and wants him to attend her funeral in Texas. When he’s down there the brother convinces him, she was murdered, and he agrees to help find the killer thinking he has found a subject for the perfect podcast.

I was surprised how good this movie was. It’s really well written, and you find yourself wrapped up in the story as B.J. Novak tries to find out what happened to the girl. It’s a little predictable as you know he’s going to go from self-absorbed dick to caring about more than just himself as he gets wrapped up with her slightly dysfunctional family. It doesn’t matter though because even though you know it’s going to happen it’s written well, and brings a good balance of being heart felt, comedy, and drama. This is also B.J. Novak’s directorial debut for a film, and it’s a great debut. The only qualm I have with the movie is the ending, I felt it a little anticlimactic and lacking, still it’s a great movie and worth watching. You can currently catch it in some theaters, and on Peacock. I give it an 8/10.

The Lovebirds

‘The Lovebirds’ is a 2020 comedy that was just released to Netflix. It follows Leilani (Issa Rae) and Jibran (Kumail Nanjiani), a couple who recently broke up and who unknowingly get involved in a murder. Scared they’re the main suspects, they are now on the run from the law and determined to find the real killer. Other than Issa Rae (The Photograph) and Kumail Nanjiani (Stuber), ‘The Lovebirds’ stars Paul Sparks (House of Cards), and Anna Camp (Pitch Perfect).

I read an article saying one of the only good things to come out of COVID-19 is ‘The Lovebirds’ skipping theaters and coming straight to Netflix. Which is a terrible thing to say, but it’s true. I kept seeing this movie previewed in theaters before quarantine took place, and I knew it was a movie I had to see. So I was beyond excited when I heard it was coming to Netflix. Kumail Nanjiani is hilarious, I love him in ‘Stuber’. Unfortunately, as much as I hate to say it, ‘The Lovebirds’ is a major letdown. It’s one of those movies that all the funny parts are shown in the previews and that’s it. It’s not a bad movie, just an okay one. I wouldn’t go out of my way to watch it, I give it a 5/10.

The Photograph

I typically break up my reviews in three parts, the synopsis of the movie, the cast, and lastly my thoughts on the movie. This time I’m just going to jump right in. ‘The Photograph’ has a great cast, Issa Rae (Little), Lakeith Stanfield (Sorry to Bother You. Knives Out), Rob Morgan (Just Mercy.), and Lil Rel Howery (Get Out. Uncle Drew). So with such a great cast, it’s a shame this movie falls flat, and it falls hard. It feels about ten hours long, the plot is uninspiring, and doesn’t develop what so ever. Literally it’s watching a movie of nothing happening. When the film ended everyone in the theater just sat there in silence. An older man stood up and declared “I didn’t fall asleep”. Once we were walking out, we passed two women. The one turns to the other and said “Oh my God what was that.” I really wanted to like this movie. I’m a fan of Lil Rel, he is hilarious, and Lakeith Stanfield is a great actor. Unfortunately I’m going to have to give ‘The Photograph’ a hard pass. It is a terrible film and probably will go down as the worst movie of 2020. I’m giving it a 2/10.