Novocaine: Gut busting comedy inside a (sometimes) gruesome action shell.

Riot’s Reviews: Novocaine

The popcorn film. It’s a Hollywood staple but is essentially something without a strict definition because what is enjoyable is a subjective experience. Creators have the unique task of casting the widest net possible to appeal to the general populace. There are a couple genres that I’d argue have a leg up in this matter. Comedies. Action flicks. Thrillers. These tend to have a broader audience palatability, so what happens when you blend them all together? You get films like Novocaine, a new action flick based on an obscene, silly, yet original premise: Nate, a reclusive man who doesn’t feel pain must rescue his damsel in distress from a trio of bank robbers and he’s putting his body through hell to do so. Audiences have seen a lot of interesting premises being wasted over the last few years in particular, so would this unique blend of elements/genres pay dividends on the entertainment factor?

This one kind of surprised me, but I think the overall answer is yes. Jack Quaid (Nate) proves he can be an exceptionally charismatic and compelling actor. I’ve previously only seen him in supporting roles, but he really held his own as the lead. He handled the action sequences well, was more than capable of managing the comedic quips and barrage of one liners, and was charming enough to bring a healthy dose of believability to the character. The film as a whole benefitted greatly from a small cast that had a lot of chemistry and while they didn’t share as much screen time as I would’ve liked, Quaid and his romantic interest Amber Midthunder (what a boss last name) were fantastic together. The script writer gave the audience enough time to invest in the couple, properly establishing Nate’s motive and the believability of their budding relationship. The film then proceeded to get pretty buck wild with the action, violence, and appropriate amounts of gore (at the very least, it’s never really excessive). As a side note, I really appreciated Ray Nicholson’s portrayal as the comedically villainous bad guy. He really leans into the evil bastard nature of his character.

The fight scenes properly toed the comedic line of a guy that has no idea what he’s doing and some of the cringe that inevitably plays out because of it (like when Nate tries to “catch” a knife, only for it to sink, hilt deep, into his hand). Cinematography wise, there were some decent camera tricks that helped keep things interesting, like a spattering of Slow-Mo shots that elevated the humor. At the end of the day it really is the laughs that are the star of the show and even the film’s side characters (like the two cops tracking Nate through the film, Betty Gabriel and Matt Walsh) are able to keep the fun going till the end. Jacob Batalon (Roscoe) once again proves that he knows how to be comedic relief for the hero and his banter with Quaid is one of the film’s biggest highlights. If the blend of genres was the ultimate goal, I’d say mission accomplished, but Novocaine is certainly more comedy than anything else.

None of the film’s issues (as I saw them) irreparably hurt it. Arguably the biggest problem lies in the predictability of the story and the fact that it feels formulaic. Although this would normally make things boring, the humor helped to ensure that didn’t happen. The run-time could have been tightened up a bit, but that might have endangered the substantive scenes that establish the relationship between Nate and Sherry which is needed to justify the insane things Nate does to try and save her. Plot-wise, there is a minor issue with the suspending of disbelief. Nate is portrayed early in the movie as being so neurotic about accidentally hurting himself that he has a minor meltdown about eating even a single bite of cherry pie. But by the film’s end, he’s blowing through bad guys, body parts, and epi-pens so rapidly it reminded me of Jason Statham in the Crank movies.

All in all though, Novocaine is a popcorn film that delivers on what it promises and in that sense, it succeeds more than a lot of other films today that have much bigger budgets, more pervasive marketing, and maybe even higher star power. Will it translate to big bucks? I’m not entirely sure, but it succeeds where others fail and it’s refreshing to see.

Riot’s Rating: 7.9/10: I think this would qualify as a contender for a good date night movie, if nobody is overly squeamish. The premise of the film happens around Christmas, so the studio should have made a bigger effort to release around December. It’s not exactly the Christmas spirit type of film, but it would’ve been more consistent than releasing in March.