Novocaine, starring Jack Quaid, Amber Midthunder and Ray Nicholson, is showing in cinemas nationwide from 26 March.
Jack Quaid has shown himself to be quite the charismatic new talent. Although his career dates back a decade, his first role being as a Career Tribute in 2012’s The Hunger Games, he has recently surged into the zeitgeist with memorable roles in Scream 5, The Boys and Companion. Novocaine is an action comedy that places Quaid front and centre, and its morbid premise benefits hugely from Quaid’s charm. The end result is gruesome but entertainingly quirky.
Helmed by the directing duo of Dan Berk and Robert Olsen, Nathan Caine (Quaid) is an introverted assistant manager for a San Diego Trust Credit Union. He keeps to himself as he has a rare condition called Congenital Analgesia (CIP). In layman’s terms, he cannot feel physical pain, which makes him uncomfortable around other people. Things begin to look up when a new employee at his work, Sherry (Amber Midthunder), takes a romantic interest in him. Their first date goes surprisingly well, with Sherry being sympathetic to Nathan’s condition.
But the next day, which happens to be Christmas Eve, Nathan’s place of work is robbed. Three heisters dressed in Santa suits steal a large stack of money and take Sherry hostage as leverage. Believing he has finally found the one, Nathan impulsively pursues the heisters to save Sherry. His efforts, which attract the attention of two sharp police officers (Betty Gabriel and Matt Walsh), result in a conveyor belt of bizarre setups and graphic action, amounting to one wild ride of a picture.
Portraying disorders on film, even extraordinarily rare ones like CIP, can be a bit of a tightrope walk, depending on the context. Thankfully, Berk and Olsen’s direction, working alongside Lars Jacobsen’s script, make it clear from the offset that this is a comedy as much as an action piece, the two genres acting as playful subversions of each other. Where hardened action premises like this one often get their emotional resonance from the grit they exude and the visible effects of that on the characters, this film jovially plays with its central gimmick of a hero unable to feel pain, using it to amp up both the intensity and the humour. Scenarios that are normally off the table due to how horrifically painful they would be – such as dipping your hand in an oil fryer or sticking glass shards into your fists to make your punches deadlier – can now be utilised freely. One finds themselves cringing at the gore but weirdly elated at the creativity.
The filmmaking follows suit in its dark imagination. During the most intense fisticuffs between Nathan and the bank-robbing antagonists, the camera follows Nathan’s body as it flops, twists and corkscrews in the aftermath of the kicks and punches he takes. Not only does it emphasise the brutality of the action – and the underlying irony of Nathan being unable to feel this brutality – but it keeps the choreography and mise-en-scene in view, allowing the audience to bask in the absurdity as everything from restaurant kitchens to tattoo parlours are made to be part of the carnage. There are times when the gruesomeness of the injuries and action teeter on the edge of gratuitous – particularly the climactic fight – but Berk and Olsen’s direction highlights and embraces the absurdity, resulting in intense exhilaration and a healthy amount of laughter, both sincere or incredulous.
As macabre as the enjoyment factor is, it paves the way for surprisingly wholesome themes of self-acceptance and growing confidence. If viewed through the lens of character arcs, the story is essentially about Nathan overcoming his anxiety and learning to accept himself by fighting for a future with Sherry, where he feels his self-worth will finally be appreciated. It’s ultimately a tale of self-belief, to the tune of strange setups and revolting injury detail.
Jack Quaid as “Nate” and Amber Midthunder as “Sherry” in Novocaine from Paramount Pictures.
Backing this up is not just Nathan’s broad likeability as a character – his stereotypical loser qualities of being shy around women and killing time through video games counterbalanced by his emotional sincerity – but by two great leading performances. Quaid is as charming as ever, at times literally rolling with the punches as his character limps away from various fight scenes. He carries the role with affable energy and a deeper desire to belong, as the character’s goals remain heartwarmingly relatable. Quaid demonstrates his comedic chops especially well, namely in a torture scene where Nathan has to fake agony that he is clearly not feeling. Amber Midthunder, best known for her excellent performance in 2022’s Prey, is just as magnetic, her character’s empathy and spunkiness being a delight to watch, even when an intriguing twist in her story is thrown into the mix. These two are remarkable in anchoring the chaos of what’s on screen, their chemistry palpable.
Graphic entertainment is this movie’s motto, but, as mentioned, sometimes it gets too gratuitous or ridiculous for its own good. The need to repulse occasionally supersedes the story’s thematic or emotional strength, resulting in repetition and particularly squirm-worthy moments that don’t feel wholly earned. The choice to set the story at Christmas is possibly a nod to Die Hard, but it’s otherwise difficult to understand why this particular setting was chosen. One perhaps also wishes the antagonists had a bit more dimension to them as characters, but given the ambitions and structure of the story, they still function reasonably well.
Novocaine won’t redefine the genre, but this one is solidly fun as far as action comedies go. Inventively gory fight scenes and two fetching lead performances make this a breezy and enjoyable, if occasionally uncomfortable, picture. If nothing else, it’s a great vehicle for Jack Quaid’s talents as an alluring leading man. Here’s hoping he gets many more juicy roles like this one to demonstrate his range.
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