Novocaine Review

Directed By: Dan Berk and Robert Olsen
Written By: Lars Jacobson
Runtime: 110 minutes
MPA Rating: Rated R for strong bloody violence, grisly images, and language throughout.

Jack Quaid – Nathan “Nate” Cain
Amber Midthunder – Sherry Margrave
Ray Nicholson – Simon Greenly
Jacob Batalon – Roscoe Dixon
Betty Gabriel – Detective Roscoe Dixon
Matt Walsh – Detective Coltraine Duffy
Conrad Kemp – Andre, a bank robber
Evan Hengst – Ben
Lou Beatty Jr. – Earl

Jack Quaid stars in the new unconventional, yet entertaining, action-comedy Novocaine. While Quaid does well portraying loathsome psychopaths and more mild-mannered, affable types, he’s in full good-guy mode as Nathan “Nate” Caine. Nate Caine suffers from a rare genetic disorder, congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis, also called (CIPA), which renders him unable to feel pain, offering up a uniquely fun, comedic, and sometimes grotesque action romp.

Nate Caine (Quaid) is a mild-mannered assistant bank manager who suffers from CIPA. Caine lives a very sheltered life. He takes every precaution to avoid hurting himself and only eats soft foods because he fears chewing would cause him to bite off his tongue. At work, Caine covers the edges of his desk with tennis balls to avoid painful accidents, and his greatest fear is getting impaled without even knowing it. However, things change when he finally gets to go out with the girl of his dreams, Sherry Margrave (Midthunder), who works as a teller at his bank. Their first date goes incredibly well, but the next day, a group of robbers dressed as Santa purloin the bank’s cash and kidnap Sherry as their hostage.

Desperate to save Sherry, Nate seeks to rescue her from the robbers. For a guy who lives an overly cautious, sheltered life, Nate’s pain insensitivity gives him a significant advantage in dealing with his foes. However, although Nate’s CIPA makes him unable to feel pain, the wounds he sustains are still severely dangerous and potentially deadly. Regardless, Nate is determined to save Sherry, even if it kills him.

Novocaine relies heavily on Jack Quaid’s unconventional leading-man charm and ability. Nate is an individual who is out of his depth and not well-suited to deal with well-trained and highly dangerous bank robbers. Lars Jacobson cleverly sets up how an individual such as Nate manages to overcome many scrapes by the skin of his teeth. Nate is not a fighter, but he uses his book smarts and knowledge from reading medical reference books to perform some hasty, much-needed first-aid.

Co-directors Dan Berk and Robert Olsen utilize Caine’s disorder to stage some comedically violent and shocking sequences. In one sequence, Caine searches the heavily booby-trapped home of one of the bank robbers for clues on their whereabouts, leading to Nate becoming ensnared in one debilitating, gruesome trap after another. The scene induces both laughter and cringe. Nate seeks to make his disorder a strength rather than a weakness but still suffers multiple grotesque wounds throughout his experience as he walks through the proverbial fire to reunite with Sherry. Interestingly, Caine’s journey parallels an elaborate fantasy story he had tattooed across his body, an imaginative world of his own creation to help him escape from the doldrums of going through life with CIPA.

The other significant aspect working for Novocaine is the strong romantic subplot for Nathan and Sherry. An interesting twist involving Sherry’s character offers a unique edge for Novocaine over typical action movie fare and raises the overall stakes. The surprising reveal of Amber Midthunder’s character imbues her personality with more dimension than the typical one-note love interest. Sherry becomes a strong secondary lead role in the plot, and she turns into more than just a worried, concerned girlfriend.

On the downside, the film’s villains emerge as weak and generic characters. Ray Nicholson portrays the lead robber, Simon, who has an interesting reveal midway through. However, the bad guys generally play one-note. Nicholson delivers a decent performance for his given material, but none of the villains truly stand out. It seems the bank robbers should have had another boss or ringleader, offering Nate a more intimidating villain to face. In action movies, sometimes the villains can prove just as compelling, if not more interesting, than the heroes. That’s not the case, as the narrative focuses on Caine’s mission to save Sherry, but the antagonists are still lacking.

At times, Novocaine suffers from some lulls in its pacing, mainly in the middle portion, despite a runtime of under two hours. The plot lends itself to a faster, more breakneck style, which it does occasionally reach, but then it takes a while for that strong pacing to ramp up again later in the film.

Issues aside, Novocaine makes strong use of its unique premise and unconventional hero. The compelling romantic relationship, some interesting plot twists, and shocking moments of R-rated violence amount to an overall entertaining action-comedy experience.

7.5

The final score: review Good

The 411

Novocaine is a fun, cinematic surprise as an unsuspecting action-comedy romp. Jack Quaid comes across incredibly well as the unassuming action hero, Nathan Caine, who must overcome the odds to save the girl he likes and turn his weakness of CIPA disorder into a strength. Dan Berk and Robert Olsen stage some creative, sometimes grotesque, action sequences that logically make sense, considering Nathan's insensitivity to pain. Quaid's unconventional leading man style and clever premise amount to an entertaining night at the movies.