B.J. Novak on Directing His First Movie ‘Vengeance,’ Being Friends With John Mayer and Living at Bob Odenkirk’s House

variety.com:

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterHe may have starred in the beloved sitcom “The Office” and worked with his hero Quentin Tarantino in “Inglourious Basterds,” but B.J.

Novak never feels cooler than when he’s shooting the shit at some swanky Manhattan watering hole with his buddy John Mayer.That realization inspired the opening sequence in Novak’s new film “Vengeance,” a slice-of-life comedy that descends into a murder mystery set in America’s heartland.

But before all the gun-cocking and bloodletting can get started, the movie opens at Soho House as Novak and Mayer’s characters wax poetic about dating and commitment in today’s age.“I wanted this to be a collision of two movies,” says Novak, who also wrote and directed in his feature filmmaking debut. “I wanted it to be a conversational smart movie — like ‘Manhattan’ — the kind I grew up enjoying myself.

And then I wanted a real-ass vengeance movie.” Novak plays a writer and podcaster name Ben Manalowitz, who is on the hunt for his next big project when he gets a call that his girlfriend, Abilene, has died of an opioid overdose.