'Novocaine' review: Jack Quaid gets hit right in the feels for the very first time

Paramount Pictures

Guys, the main character's name is so stupid that this whole thing might just work after all. How wonderful is that? Our main event of the week is Novocaine, which introduces us to, wait for it, Nate Caine (Jack Quaid) who's a manager at a credit union in San Diego, but most importantly, he is also an awkward guy with a total insensitivity to pain. He's got the hots for his co-worker Sherry (Amber Midthunder) and after stumbling around for a bit, they do go on a date and things go so well that he puts his ultimate Girlfriend Guy™ hat on. But the next day, which happens to be Christmas Eve, a group of robbers dressed as Santa Clauses enter the credit union, steal money and kidnap Sherry as a hostage for their getaway. With his rare condition and Girlfriend Guy™ powers firing him up, Nate pursues the robbers in order to save Sherry.

You're obviously getting a really fun premise here, and for what it's worth, the movie manages to get pretty far with the way that it implements Nate's mix of extraordinary resilience and incredible lack of actual skills. But there's also a touch of sweet added to the spicy action spectacle as Quaid and Midthunder make the romantic angle work with their individual charms harmonising extremely well. Both actors seem to be having genuine fun, which is always infectious, and directors Dan Berk and Robert Olsen as well as screenwriter Lars Jacobson are squeezing every single drop of juice they can from the hijinks and their lead performers. Getting the girl and a few flimsy plot twists after the first 30 minutes don't offer much depth or wonder for viewers in terms of story, but whenever Nate is biting off more than he can chew, it's just amusing to go for a ride with him and Sherry.

Luckily, the general entertainment value, solid comedic timing and good performances outweigh the small shortcomings that the film has. Those aforementioned plot twists rely on the relationships between Sherry and the robbers—led by Ray Nicholson's Simon—and the latter characters aren't quite compelling enough to elevate the story in a meaningful way. In fact, they occasionally turn the plot and dialogue from preposterous into straight up dumb.

The stunt, makeup and SFX teams clearly had fun torturing Nate and goons he comes across as the set pieces set the physical comedy and action up for success. But at the same time, Kara Lindstrom's production design and Lesley Jooste's set decoration can't escape the feel of a soundstage somewhere not in San Diego, and the directors don't exactly do interesting things with them compared to the stunt crew in regard to staging and blocking. Composers Andrew Kawczynski and Lorne Balfe are also on autopilot, injecting absolutely zero flair into the project with their paint-by-numbers score featuring dull string and percussive instrumentation, presumably rehashing material the latter has written for other mediocre-to-okay movies.

For an action comedy, the action bits are decent and the humour is above-average thanks to the actors' commitment to the bit, so you'll probably find the whole thing pleasant enough for the most part. It'd be pretty hard to consider it painfully unfunny and uneventful as long as you don't set your expectations too high.

Smileys: Premise, acting

Frowneys: Production design

All pain, no gain.

3.0/5

Where to watch:

This article may contain affiliate links, which means that we may earn a commission if you make a purchase through these links. Thank you for the support!