Movies

New Releases • A-D • E-H • I-P • Q-Z • Articles • Festivals • Interviews • Dark Knight • Indiana Jones • MCU

Novocaine, starring Jack Quaid and Amber Midthunder
Trailer: Paramount Pictures

Novocaine
Directed by Dan Berk and Robert Olsen
Rated R
Hit 14 March 2025
#Novocaine

It's a good idea with loads of possibilities, but Novocaine keeps it simple.

Clobberin’ Time

It’s a classic example of a movie that was built for an elevator pitch: a guy who can’t feel pain gets ensnared in the criminal world after bank robbers take his love interest hostage.

At times, one has to wonder how much time screenwriter Lars Jacobson spent studying medicine and medical conditions, especially considering the most notable title on his resume is as writer and producer of a podcast series called Wheel Woman: Confessions of a Getaway Driver.

A lot of words are thrown around about the condition of one Nate Caine (Jack Quaid, Companion). He has a congenital lack of sensitivity to pain, heat or cold. At the bank where he’s an assistant manager, all of the pencils at his desk have Silly Putty covering the lead tips. The corners of his desk are covered by hollowed-out tennis balls.

Without those things in place, he very well might kill himself and not even know it. He can’t even eat solid foods because he might bite his tongue off. And an alarm goes off on his watch every three hours as a reminder to his the loo so his bladder doesn’t explode.

When Nate wasn’t busy being bullied on the playground (where he picked up the nickname Novocain), he was spending most of his childhood in hospitals. He’s thrilled to have outlasted his 25-year life expectancy.

Quite an unnerving condition, to say the least.

Everybody Hurts

It’s interesting how Novocaine begins and it’s most certainly less interesting how it ends. What happens in between is a document of that devolution of interest.

It begins with a lot of consideration in setting up the situation and the characters. Nate’s a super nice guy at that bank in San Diego and he has a huge crush on a relatively new employee, Sherry (Amber Midthunder, Prey). Nate’s floored when Sherry invites him to lunch and that turns into some nice movie moments as their chemistry develops.

Personal interests are revealed and that extends to an evening outing where Sherry’s art is on display at a bar.

They each have a back story and they’re both broken people. Kinda nice. A little tender.

And then the story kicks in.

The next day, the bank they work at is robbed and Sherry’s taken hostage.

With the San Diego police short-staffed, it’s going to take a while for the law to kick in, so Nate decides to take the law into his own desensitized hands.

Fair enough. It’s borderline superhero territory as Nate (somewhat) willfully throws himself into some ultraviolent situations. Needless to say, Quaid is traversing territory here that’s far from his performance as Richard Feynman in Oppenheimer. This movie ain’t rocket science, but it has its entertainment value.

Black Cherry, White Rabbit

What’s almost strange about Novocaine is that it really does want to be seen as a movie with heart, a heart still in the chest, not ripped out and throbbing on the kitchen floor of a creepy, booby-trapped house. (That setting – sans the heart – leads to one of the movie’s best lines as Nate suggests the owners of the house are huge Home Alone fans.)

As the movie opens, Nate’s seen helping a recently widowed man who’s on the verge of losing both his house and his business. Nate’s doing everything in his power to help the guy and their relationship – along with Nate’s pursuit of Sherry – leads to a rather heartwarming theme about love and pain. As lonely heart Sherry comments, "If you don’t have somebody to care about, it’s harder to get hurt."

That’s not really true, by the way. It’s too easy to get heart even when trying to avoid the pain. Ah, but maybe that’s a clever riff on Nate’s physical condition. Nonetheless, let’s go ahead and question some of the details of Nate’s condition while questioning life’s jaundiced insights from the characters.

As it stands, Nate and Sherry are both hoping to find somebody who gives their lives meaning. But there is a little bit of a twist to be had in their relationship. It’s a pretty good twist.

The Tingler

With the movie industry still reeling from the pandemic and the pivot to streaming services, a tighter focus has been put on premium formats, particularly IMAX, Dolby Cinema, D-Box, Real D 3-D and 4DX. Naturally, these formats command a higher ticket price.

That last one, 4DX, makes for an – to use that word again – "interesting" experience that contributes to the devolution of the interest in Novocaine’s on-screen antics as the 4DX effects increase in intensity.

The introduction is slow and clever. At that bar, a slap on the back between characters renders a subtle bump in the seat. Once or twice it feels like somebody is kicking the back of the seat, but that’s not the reality. With extra wide rows, even the most prostrate of theatregoers wouldn’t be able to stretch that far.

Then the bank robbery – featuring no-good grinches dressed as Santa Claus – kicks things up a couple notches. Punches are thrown and the seat jolts become more severe. Then there are the car chases, crashes, trips, frying pans to the face and all sorts of other manner of graphic violence.

Much of it falls in line with the spate of other recent ultra-violent comedies, such as Violent Night, Nobody and Love Hurts. But none of those movies can hold their own against the mastery of a John Wick movie. There’s far less artistry on display here. This is less about creating an environment that salutes martial arts and the craftwork of stunt teams. In particular with Novocaine, it’s about the old-school gimmicks, harking back to the days of William Castle.

Depending on the situation, a puff of air might blow into the face or a slight spritz of water. Lighting effects highlight some of the gunfire. And the seats begin to feel more like roller coaster carts as the tip up and twist to the sides in sync with the on-screen mayhem.

At first it adds something. But, by the end, as interest wanes in the relentless (not a compliment) action, the effects become an unwanted distraction.

That’s a shame, too. As with the beginning and those nice moments between Nate and Sherry, once the madness dies down, Novocaine finds its way back to that heart and a couple heartfelt, character-driven jokes. If only Novocaine had more heart and less gore, it wouldn’t have been so painful to watch.

• Originally published at MovieHabit.com.