Movie Review: NOVOCAINE starring Jack Quaid, Amber Midthunder

While Jack Quaid’s last film was vastly underappreciated, last year’s sci-fi film, Companion, hopefully he gets more deserved praise for his role as Nathan Caine in the new action-comedy Novocaine, out Friday.

By the way, if you haven’t seen Quaid’s last film, please check it out. He is sinisterly good in the film, a rare original idea from Hollywood. Quaid’s latest is also a pretty cool concept in the same vane as Crank and Evil Dead II.

Novocaine tells the story of an assistant bank manager who has a disease called CIPA. Yes, that’s actually a real disease where the person feels no pain. While Quaid plays a self-absorbed yuppie in Companion, his character in Novocaine is quiet, reserved and a homebody, opting to stay at home to play video games with his lone friend Roscoe, played by Jacob Batalon. Just when it looks like Nathan is doomed to a life of loneliness, he meets co-worker Sherry. During the chance meeting at the office coffer maker, Nathan’s disease is first noticed by Sherry after he spills scalding hot coffee on his hand. While his hand looks badly burnt, he doesn’t seem to notice. The two decide to go out for pie, which is when Nathan reveals to Sherry what CIPA really is. After a great evening, Nathan is on cloud 9, but as fate would have it, that doesn’t last. The bank they both work at is robbed by three gunmen. After getting the money, the robbers take Sherry as a hostage. All out chaos ensues from there, as Nathan will stop at nothing to save the love of his life.

Along with the casting, Quaid and Midthunder stand out along with Betty Gabriel and Matt Walsh as the detectives trying to track down the robbers and Nathan, the violence is not only enjoyable but laughable for much of the film. Co-directors Dan Berk and Robert Olsen, seem to have quite an eye for non-stop action and physical comedy with Novocaine. The directors also play to Quaid’s strengths, bringing out his best role yet. There is a nod to Home Alone that made me chuckle, as well as the laugh-out-loud scene where Nathan is being tortured.

Clocking in at 1 hour and 50 minutes, the length of the movie seems just about right. I respect the fact that the directors took the time to actually develop Quaid’s character. Nathan is a likeable guy that many of us can identify with and without the time spent at the beginning of the film developing Nathan as a loveable, nice guy who is just down on his luck, I don’t think the audience would have connected with the film nor been able to laugh at the over-the-top violent scenes as much.

While it is just March and there will be a plethora of films released throughout the year, Novocaine is definitely on my list for one of the more enjoyable films that I have seen so far this year. Jack Quaid, son of two famous acting parents in Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan, has the charisma and acting chops to be a leading man and even an unlikely action hero for years to come.

Novocaine gets an A-.