B.J. Novak

When the American version of The Office began, it presented B.J. Novak’s character Ryan as a thoroughly normal guy who happened to wander into a horribly dysfunctional workplace. (In the very first episode, he sits by helplessly as Michael plays a pointlessly cruel prank on Pam.) If he could at times appear above it all, that was simply a matter of relativity; he was superior by virtue of being average. Yet as the series progressed and the characters gained dimension, Ryan’s bemusement curdled into smugness, and Novak gradually revealed the character’s face—generically handsome, with darting blue eyes and topped by wig-worthy hair—to be a mask that camouflaged his selfishness and cruelty. If Michael Scott was the terrible boss who secretly had a heart of gold, Ryan Howard was the reverse—a superficially nice guy who was actually a complete jerk.

Vengeance, Novak’s first feature as writer-director, interrogates that same arrogance with a curious mixture of irony and sincerity. He casts himself as Ben Manalowitz, a smarmy and vapid New York writer who’s quick to tell you that he “went to school in Boston.” Ben has aspirations of breaking into the podcast scene, but when we first meet him on the terrace of a poshly appointed loft, he’s more preoccupied with defending his singlehood, pontificating with a friend (played by John Mayer?!) about how their rigorous lack of commitment is really an advanced form of human evolution. Later that evening, he reconnects with a past hookup whom he’s stored in his phone as, “Random House Party”; when she enters his apartment, he asks her (to her bafflement), “How’s the book business?” Real prince. Read More