Novocaine

Novocaine is an action thriller directed by Dan Berk and Robert Olsen. The story follows Nathan Caine, a mild-mannered bank executive with congenital insensitivity to pain (CIP), who must rescue his girlfriend Sherry after she is taken hostage by a group of bank robbers.

Novocaine Review

Hollywood has a long tradition of action thrillers in which a lone underdog goes through extraordinary circumstances and fights implacable foes to save their wives/girlfriends. In 1997’s Breakdown, when Jeff Taylor (Kurt Russell) and his wife break down on a remote highway, a seemingly helpful trucker offers to take her to a nearby diner while Jeff stays with the car. But when she vanishes without a trace, and no one admits to seeing her, Jeff is forced into a desperate fight against a criminal conspiracy to get her back.

While little known, Breakdown works because of its focus and dedication to the premise, but mostly because it’s realistic enough that the audience can see themselves in the same horrible situation. More importantly, it offers a cathartic and satisfying conclusion.

By contrast, Novocaine offers an interesting premise that begs profound questions but chooses to answer those questions with the same diminishingly funny repeated gag. Even though it’s mildly amusing, it’s a poor substitute for thoughtful storytelling.

In addition to its one-note schtick, the film suffers from something of an identity crisis- inelegantly teetering between farcical action comedy and dramatic action thriller. Jack Quaid, who excels at playing whiny losers, infuses his character with such sincerity and earnest longing that you genuinely feel for this man forced to self-exile due to a genetic defect.

Sincerity is a double-edged sword because as Quaid wracks up seemingly unalterable damage in pursuit of happiness, the audience grows increasingly concerned for his well-being, which is all but undone by its commensurate cartoonishness. The result is an emotional ambiguity that strips the audience of feeling anything more than shock and horror at the gratuity of it all.

By the time the film begins to wrap up, it’s clear that writer Lars Jacobson didn’t understand the assignment, and any possibility of depth or poignancy has been traded for lazy Tom & Jerry-like antics and a generic AI-generated conclusion.

I rather like Tom & Jerry. So, if you’re like me, you’ll probably still enjoy this film. The pacing is tight, and Jack Quaid is likable as the lead. If you don’t need much in the way of character development (like any), and you’re okay with two-dimensional forgettable villains, two-dimensional and forgettable supporting characters, and plots driven purely by luck and coincidence, then Novocaine might be the action comedy for you.

WOKE ELEMENTS

Gals With Guns, Joes With Jokes

• The lead police officer on the case is, you guessed it, a diverse woman of color, and she is smart and on the ball. Her male white partner/second in command (16 years her senior) is a goober with a drinking problem.
  • Neither is in the film for more than a few minutes, and Matt Walsh (the white goober cop) isn’t a complete idiot or anything. He’s just unserious as comedic relief, something at which he excels. Also, she’s not a supercop or anything, just serious and motivated. For these reasons, I didn’t mark the Woke-O-Meter down much.

Merica

• A couple of the bad guys are ex-military/ex-special forces who love guns and hunting. That said, the primary reason seems to be less of an indictment of those things and more of a plot device to give a reasonable explanation for some of the abilities that they possess. However, Jack Quaid’s character does say that they appear to be “preppers” and then makes a disgusted sound at the thought.