Novocaine Packs a Good Adrenaline Rush
Image Courtesy of Paramount Pictures
By Luis Zonenberg
After breaking up with his robot girlfriend in Companion, it only made sense for Jack Quaid to move on to Aubrey Midthunder, especially since she played the awesome Comanche hero in Prey. It’s only when she gets kidnapped though that he utilizes his greatest superpower: Cipa; a chronic condition that allows him to not feel pain. The result is Novocaine: an action comedy packed with plenty of laughs and gore galore.
Dorky introvert Nathan Caine (Jack Quaid) is an Assistant Manager at a trust credit union who plays video games in his spare time. It’s there where Nathan meets Sherry (Amber Midthunder), a new employee who instantly connects with him. Just as they begin forming a relationship, a bank robbery soon derails everything and her getting kidnapped doesn’t help either. Aided by Nathan’s online gaming friend, Roscoe (Jacob Batalon), he embarks on a blood-soaked quest to rescue her from the bank robbers.
Filmmaking duo Dan Berk and Robert Olsen give an adrenaline shot to an already fun premise and amp it up to eleven. The story is clever in making Nathan feel like a relatable character, diving into how his condition affects his everyday life. This makes the comedy and gore work even more, when you realize how much his body can take and shows how far he’s willing to push himself in order to get Sherry back.
The acting was consistently fun to watch, with Jack Quaid’s charm making him an easy character to root for. Amber Midthunder also works well off of Quaid, making her character a perfect match for him and their chemistry helps fuel overall drama. The other standout performance would be Ray Nicholson, who is having a blast portraying the villain of the movie. His over-the-top performance was always a joy to watch whenever he popped up on screen.
The cinematography felt like a bit of a 2000s throwback, with the camera shaking whenever a gritty action scene popped up. A couple pointless zoom-ins appeared here and there as well, but at least this only applied to the action set pieces and did help fuel the rush of the moment. It knew when to utilize this style to help engage the audience, unlike other recent films that used this style throughout the whole movie.
The film was paced very well, knowing when to slow down and amp up the drama. The story allows the audience to connect with the characters and be with them in the moment when the action dies down. And when the action kicks in, it brings an epic adrenaline rush that immediately engages the audience. The climax does feel dragged out at times, but is easy to forgive for how insanely fun it was to watch!
Novocaine surpasses the bar for a popcorn movie and moreso. It may not be anything groundbreaking or “award-worthy”, but it makes the most of its fun concept, going above and beyond to engage the audience in any way possible. Novocaine’s fun premise is given an adrenaline shot from Jack Quaid and Amber Midthunder’s irresistible chemistry, making it a highly entertaining watch for anyone in search of a fun time.
Novocaine is now playing in theaters.
Rating: ★★★★☆
Spoilers:
There is a twist early on in the film that reveals that the lead bank robber, Simon Greenly, is actually Sherry’s brother and that she was an accomplice the whole time. The twist was fairly predictable though and I am glad it was revealed much earlier to the audience. It also helped that they built off of the twist and showed Sherry truly cares for Nathan, even going so far as to fight her brother to ensure Nathan’s safety.
While it is reminiscent of the twists in films such as Reindeer Games or From Paris With Love, the filmmakers are clever in the way they built off of it. By making us identify with Sherry and allow to feel guilty for her actions, it takes a relatively poor twist and tweaks it to make it more engaging for the audience. This makes it more exciting by the time the climax kicks, making the audience feel more engaged in the action!
