Novocaine Review: Jack Quaid’s Comfortably Numbing Fun Performance Dominates This Propulsive Action Comedy
The last time a movie carried the title Novocaine was the little-seen 2001 black comedy of the same name starring Steve Martin and Helena Bonham Carter. Well, this Novocaine only coincidentally shared the same title and bears no connection with that movie whatsoever. What we have here is an action comedy with Jack Quaid, last seen in the sadly underappreciated — from the box-office’s point-of-view, that is — Companion earlier this year, leading Novocaine as the man who feels no pain.
His name is Nathan Caine, who has a rare condition called congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis a.k.a. CIPA (believe it or not, this isn’t a made-up genetic disorder). While he’s a self-centered a-hole, no-good boyfriend in Companion, Novocaine has Quaid’s shy and introverted assistant bank manager trying to be an unlikely hero saving the day. I mean, saving the girl of his dreams (Amber Midthunder’s Sherry) after being held hostage by a group of bank robbers led by Simon (Ray Nicholson).
So, before all this happens, Nathan’s life is pretty much mundane: work, and video games with his friend, Roscoe (Jacob Batalon), even though they only communicate via online chat so far. Then, a meet-cute moment happens in the office pantry when Nathan’s co-worker and bank teller, Sherry, caused an accidental coffee spill. They hit it off soon after when Sherry invites him to a lunch, followed by a date at night and a romantic moment back at Nathan’s place.
What a positive life-changing experience that Nathan has been waiting for. But the joy is short-lived the following day when a trio of robbers, including the aforementioned Ray Nicholson’s Simon along with the two others, Andre (Conrad Kemp) and Ben (Evan Hengst) dressed in Santa costumes, come charging into the bank. The robbery ends up with the trio taking Sherry hostage and gunning down the cops arriving at the scene, prompting Nathan to chase after the bad guys.
However, things get complicated when a pair of detectives, Mincy (Betty Gabriel) and Coltraine (Matt Walsh), somehow suspect Nathan is involved in the robbery. So, Nathan is basically on his own in a dangerous quest for rescuing his love life.
And since he doesn’t have a special set of skills (he’s no ex-anything that has to do with law enforcement), the only advantage he has is making use of his pain-free CIPA disorder to stop the robbers. This can be seen during Nathan’s initial encounter with one of the robbers in the restaurant kitchen, resulting in a violent but darkly funny moment of live-action cartoon-like brutality (at one point, Nathan has no problem grabbing a hot, frying pan straight from the stove).
It sure is fun watching Nathan trying to take down the bad guys, despite his zero experience in firing a gun and even knowing how to fight. Dan Berk and Robert Olsen, who co-directed Lars Jacobson’s high-concept screenplay have an eye for visceral action flair and mean-spirited physical comedy while bringing out the best in Quaid’s game performance as Nathan Caine. There’s one scene that had me laughing the most when Nathan is being tied to a chair and has to go through a series of “painful” tortures.
The movie even pays an unexpected homage to Home Alone during an elaborate sequence that takes place in a booby-trapped house, which in turn, gives us one of the most entertaining scenes in Novocaine. I also appreciate how the movie spends enough time establishing Nathan’s character right from the get-go. He may have been socially awkward but he is also a nice guy, evidently seen in the earlier scene where he’s taking an initiative to help out his struggling client, Earl (Lou Beatty Jr.). His subsequently brief but wonderful rom-com moments with Sherry is also one of the movie’s biggest assets, thanks to the instant spark within their on-screen chemistry.
Midthunder, best known for her breakout role in Prey, displays enough likable charm in her sweet-natured character as Sherry. The rest of the supporting roles are just as commendable, notably Ray Nicholson’s haywired turn as the temperamental robber, Simon. If there are any flaws here, I would say the movie feels a tad overlong at nearly two hours, which could have used a tighter trim in the editing department. But overall, Novocaine is a solid action comedy worth checking out on the big screen.
