Directed by the duo of Robert Olsen and Dan Berk, “Novocaine” provides audiences with a “hook, line and sinker” of an action flick, which released in theaters Friday. Born with a condition that prevents him from feeling pain, Nathan Caine (Jack Quaid) lives an incredibly sheltered and uneventful life – until he meets Sherry Margrave (Amber Midthunder). After she gets kidnapped in a bank heist, Caine uses his unique set of skills to push himself beyond human limits in his desperate attempt to rescue the girl of his dreams. While the film moves like a freight train on adrenaline and hits twice as hard, “Novocaine” manages to balance a heartfelt rom-com, unique action and stomach-curdling physical comedy within its brisk one hour, 50 minutes runtime.
While “Novocaine” is marketed as an action thriller, the love story that drives the narrative is better than it has any right to be. Quaid has a natural ability to play lovable and dorky losers that instantly endear the audience. He can be hilarious, not from big joke setups, but from genuine quirks that flow naturally from Caine’s character. Likewise, his doe-eyed innocence effectively convey a true sense of romance when he interacts with Margrave — with whom he shares magnificent chemistry. Even though their relationship moves incredibly fast, audiences might not even notice or care because of how authentic Caine and Margrave’s love affair feels.
Once the movie succeeds in lulling the audience into thinking they are watching a full-blown romantic comedy, it hits them with a one-two-punch of action and slapstick humor.
To kick things into high gear, the action in “Novocaine” is beyond innovative. While the fight scenes themselves are a bit choppy at times as a result of fast-paced editing, the ideas that went into crafting them are absolutely top tier. Since Caine can’t feel pain, he frequently uses this to his advantage to turns the tides in his favor. For instance, Caine allows himself to get hit as a means of getting closer to his attacker. He will pick up a blazing cast iron skillet and trick the thug into grabbing it, giving them third degree burns. One of the best fatalities in the entire film happens when Caine impales an enemy with the arrow jammed into his thigh. There is also a brilliant homage to “RoboCop” during the movie’s climax, bound to leave audiences cheering.
Viewer participation is another reason why the action works as well as it does. Filmmakers used Caine’s condition to push the film’s brutality to its limits. When Caine takes an especially fatal hit, even though he cannot feel it, the sound design and visuals make it so the audience does through its use of alternating frequencies and shallow depth of field. As well, the injuries Caine sustains throughout each and every fight are stomach-wrenching, such as plucked-out fingernails, bones piercing skin and blunt focus trauma. Caine even sticks his hand into a boiling deep fryer at one point. These gruesome injuries push the fight scenes to the edges of viscerality and elicit an audible reaction from the crowd, demonstrating how engaging they are to watch.
On top of the action being pure carnage candy, audiences also connect to the moments of violence emotionally since they care about Caine as a character. While he can’t feel his injuries, he can still die from them. While this concept isn’t explored as much as it could have been, the risk bestows fight scenes with a dire sense of peril as Caine continues to push himself into increasingly dangerous situations, unfazed by the damage he takes while the audience knows the next gunshot wound could be his last. As such, when he’s forced to turn into John McClane, viewers are on the edge of their seat, not wanting to see their dorky hero get hurt since he won’t know when to turn back.
On a lighter note, Caine’s disability makes for wildly entertaining bits of physical comedy. Audiences know how a torture scene is supposed to play out, but since Caine is incapable of felling this torment, these dramatic moments become subversively comedic. As well, the film contains a humorous running gag surrounding the main character’s fear of eating solid food. Because Caine is scared to accidentally bite his tongue off, he cautiously chews a slice of cucumber and cheers when he checks the mirror to find his tongue still attached, creates such a brilliant moment of levity unique to his character. Constant moments such as these give crowded laugh-out-loud moments in between the movie’s more aggressive confrontations.
In the end, “Novocaine” delivers a surprise smash hit that will have crowds howling, winching and rooting for a heartfelt romance that all happens to be wrapped up in an creative action thriller.
4.5/5.
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Featured Image via Paramount Pictures
