On March 20, the comedy action movie «Novocaine» starring Jack Quaid was released in theaters. Just last month, the star of «The Boys» lit up in a psychological sci-fi thriller «Companion», and now the next novelty with his participation is playing on the big screens. Quaid’s partner on the set was Amber Midthunder — in the recent past rival Predator himself. We’ll tell you what these two do on screen and how interesting it is to watch in our review.
Pluses:
The storytelling is dynamic; the action sometimes has a certain whimsy to it; the movie manages to make the viewer laugh, and this is its main advantage;
Minuses:
There is nothing new here for films of this kind — continuous conventionality and absurdity of the plot; the creators did not know at what point the movie should end, which significantly spoils the overall viewing experience;
«Novocaine»
Genre comedy action movie
Directors Dan Burke, Robert Olsen
Starring Jack Quaid, Amber Midthunder, Ray Nicholson, Jacob Batalon, Betty Gabriel, Matt Walsh, Dominic Mayer, Evan Hengst, Conrad Kemp, Craig Jackson
Premiere movie theaters
Year of release 2025
Website IMDb, official website
Nathan Kane, an ordinary bank teller, doesn’t socialize much and prefers to spend his time with his virtual friend Roscoe, with whom he plays video games. Nathan’s reclusiveness is rooted in his need to be more careful than others, as he suffers from a genetic condition that makes him completely painless. Because of this, he has to refuse to eat solid foods because he could accidentally bite off his tongue, and he goes to the restroom on schedule to avoid unexpectedly bursting his bladder.
Everything changes for the cautious loner when he meets a beautiful coworker, Sherry. As Nathan gets to know her better, he realizes that she is the one he has been waiting for all his life. But the feeling of euphoria doesn’t last long because one working day, robbers from the crime thriller «Reindeer Games» (2000) suddenly visit the bank, dressed as Santa Clauses, take Kane’s newly made passionate girlfriend hostage and escape. Throwing aside all doubts, he sets out to save his beloved, taking advantage of his illness, which, let’s just say, will pass for a superhero ability.
Let’s be clear, — «Novocaine» is a completely unpretentious action game in the spirit of some «Guns Akimbo» or «Boy Kills World», it’s a typical gore flick, full of mutilations and black humor. But the film by the directorial duo of Dan Burke and Robert Olsen stands out among its genre brethren precisely because the senseless violence for the sake of violence is supported by really good humor. It seems that the creators are squeezing the maximum out of their proposed concept.
It is believed that Burke and Olson were somewhat inspired by the work of another creative tandem — Brian Taylor and Mark Neveldine and their frantic, locally titled «Crank» (2006). Just like the old-school masculine character of Jason Statham, the fragile hero of the modern action movie also needs another dose of a physiologically active substance to continue his mission. Gamers will surely take this for health points.
The extreme conventionality of an absurd plot from the category «what happens if an innocent guy wearing funny ties starts saving the world, or rather — the girl of his dreams», is perfectly offset by the dynamics and, again, great humor. At times, the action takes on the features of the classic Christmas comedy «Home Alone», which is not without reason that the events here take place on Christmas Eve. But the creators understand perfectly well how to present it in such a way that it does not descend to the level of a pathetic caricature, but amuses the viewer. You will really laugh.
In one of the scenes, the protagonist turns on a Van Damme kickboxer that no Charlie Sheen parody could ever dream of. And closer to the finale, the authors lose all shame and encroach on a crude reference to «Terminator 2» itself, though by then the initial fervor has already noticeably deflated and the film is not so well received.
At the same time, screenwriter Lars Jacobson, whose previous work was the failed remake of Romer’s «Day of the Dead» (1985) with the subtitle «Bloodline», tries to provide the story with at least some twists. However, in the context of a kneading of this kind, they have a purely nominal function. Both the cross-dressing trick and the most important plot point «revelation» have already been seen before, at least by those who watched «Reindeer Games» — it is not without reason that John Frankenheimer’s film was mentioned above.
It’s a pity that the filmmakers lacked a sense of proportion: they simply didn’t know when the movie should end. Instead of a logical and, most importantly, timely ending, they decided to tickle the audience’s nerves by adding more «action-packed» twists and turns, culminating in the absolute immortality of Ray Nicholson’s character. All of this is very much out of rhythm and in the end seems like so much unnecessary fuss that it even manages to spoil the overall impression of the movie a little bit.
Jack Quaid is slowly becoming a hostage to one image, as he continues to play the nice, friendly guy from «The Boys» who needs to grow up with courage under the pressure of difficult circumstances. Ray Nicholson seems to be following the same path, as he is the local psychopath in the comedy thriller «Borderline», which is due to be released in Ukraine on May 1. Jacob Batalon doesn’t go far from his colleagues and delivers another batch of superhero friends, even if this time it’s not Spiderman who’s fighting the bad guys, but Novocain. Amber Midthunder smiles charmingly in the frame, and that’s basically all that’s required of her.
After watching the movie, the factor of the inexpressive final act is a little upsetting, but Burke-Olsen’s creation is able to give you a good mood. This is a one-time entertainment, unpretentious but funny — which is worth the pseudo-torture scene alone. Extremely painful on the screen, but absolutely painless for the moviegoer.
