Novocaine is a fairly underwhelming action thriller that benefits greatly from getting two talented, charismatic actors in its lead role and a premise that seems built for the trailers. Jack Quaid plays a socially awkward assistant bank manager who develops a connection with a new colleague; Amber Midhunter’s Sherry – but when she is kidnapped during the middle of a bank heist gone wrong Nate has to channel his ability to not feel pain into saving her.
Sherry and Nate’s connection is instant when they meet; it’s practically love at first sight. Nate overcomes his awkwardness and befriends Sherry who takes him under his wing and invites him to an art show. Yet its comedy can’t really break free of the one-joke that it has that Nate can’t feel pain and doesn’t offer anything up beyond that – even when it sets up potential for chekov’s gun it shies away from using the most basic of Hollywood payoffs. The initial act feels stilted; awkward and deliberately forced – once it is allowed to move through the exposition and the character introductions it drops a twist on us; but it feels like it happens too soon and is too obvious – detracting from the emotional beat of the storyline in the first place and meaning when the romance lasts through its twist – it’s never fully rewarding at the end as it doesn’t feel earned.
Quaid’s charisma is fun as a nice charming guy persona that he exploited effectively in Scream and has recently starred in Companion – it’s rare that you’ll get a nepo-baby this well liked but that’s part of his charm – the son of Meg Ryan and Dennis Quaid will have all the advantages in the world but it’s evident he has the talent to back it up. His breakout The Boys allowed him to master the deadpan humour he’s so good at – yet more could’ve been used than just the goodwill of casting Quaid. For one thing it’s never explained why he wants to change suddenly, only after loosely working with Sherry it feels like he has the ability to – but surely, there would’ve been that situation before.
We only realise Novocaine is half-heartedly set at Christmas (this is absolutely not a Christmas film released in April) when a bunch of bank robbers dressed as Santa burst into the room; kill the bank manager, and escape with a hostage. It’s frantic gunplay that is creative and as threatening as the film gets but after the initial thrill and the involvement of the police; it’s clear that there’s no real substance to back up the premise.
It’s a novelty that doesn’t last. Nate can’t feel pain but it doesn’t mean he is Captain America or Thor – he’s an average guy who has lived a life of normalcy to avoid any reckless behaviour – even not being able to chew solid foods because he might hurt himself. There’s hints of a backstory, a tragic past – but this feels like a male gamer’s wet-dream – the cutaway gag is that Nate spends all his time playing video games and reading books; and has a guy-in-the-chair who literally is played by Spider-Man’s guy-in the-chair; Jacob Batalon – lacking creativity to make a laugh beyond “oh that guy’s in that thing” without any real depth to back it up. Batalan is good but it’s at this point, like Quaid – a role he can play in his sleep. Mindhunter is fantastic with the limited material she’s given. Matt Walsh is there but he’s just Matt Walsh – as much as it’s fun to see characters from Veep show up the police story attatched onto this feels half-hearted and deus-ex-machina’d away in an unconvincing fashion.
Novocaine wants to have its cake and eat it too. It wants to be a gung-ho violent, Baby Driver or Tarantino-esque action thriller. It wants to be a male fantasy love story. Yet it can’t be either of those because it’s too focused on the one joke at the expense of all else – and what’s worse is that all the good gags have been spoiled in the trailer. One to avoid.
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