'Novocaine' delivers bloody thrills with Jack Quaid's pain-free hero
Alona Yadav | Mar 13, 2025, 22:47 IST
( Image credit : AP )
Jack Quaid stars as Nathan Caine in the action-comedy 'Novocaine,' portraying a man with congenital insensitivity to pain analgesia. His meticulously controlled life is overturned following a bank robbery, leading him into violent scenarios. The film blends excessive violence with comedic elements and self-aware references.
Jack Quaid stars as a man who literally can't feel pain in Paramount's new action-comedy "Novocaine," a film that paradoxically inflicts plenty of discomfort on its audience through its gleefully excessive violence.
The story follows Nathan Caine, a cautious bank assistant manager with congenital insensitivity to pain analgesia (CIPA), a real medical condition that renders him unable to feel physical discomfort. While this might sound advantageous, Nate explains it's hardly a superpower – he could still die from unnoticed injuries or even forgetting to empty his bladder.
Living a meticulously baby-proofed existence to avoid accidental self-harm, Nate consumes only "non-chewing food" and spends his evenings playing online video games rather than dating. Quaid, despite his Hollywood lineage (he's the son of Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan), convincingly portrays this risk-averse introvert with a light touch that suits the film's tone.
Nate's carefully controlled life changes dramatically when bank teller Sherry (Amber Midthunder) shows romantic interest in him. After spending the night together, Sherry is taken hostage during a violent bank robbery. When the criminals (led by Jack Nicholson's son Ray Nicholson) kill both the bank manager and responding police officers, Nate impulsively steals a police car to rescue her himself.
The narrative stretch required to justify Nate's heroic intervention feels somewhat forced, especially when he could simply let the remaining police (played by Betty Gabriel and Matt Walsh) handle the situation. However, this questionable decision primarily serves to propel Nate into a series of increasingly gruesome scenarios that exploit his unique condition.
What follows is a blood-soaked odyssey through a restaurant kitchen fight, a tattoo parlor interrogation, and a booby-trapped house that earns its self-aware "Home Alone" reference. Directors Dan Berk and Robert Olsen, working from Lars Jacobson's script, demonstrate skillful comedic timing despite occasional pacing issues – the film includes too many false endings and runs about 20 minutes too long.
"Novocaine" stands above recent failed action comedies through clever sequences, including one where Nate convinces his captor to torture him as slowly as possible, buying time while pretending to feel pain. The film revels in its protagonist's physical suffering, featuring scenes of impalement, burns, and various mutilations that elicit involuntary audience reactions – truly a movie best experienced in the communal setting of a theater.
Opening with R.E.M.'s mournful anthem "Everybody Hurts" as an ironic counterpoint, "Novocaine" offers 110 minutes of violent entertainment that, while not groundbreaking, delivers its bloody concept with enough style and self-awareness to satisfy action-comedy fans looking for a visceral cinematic experience.
The story follows Nathan Caine, a cautious bank assistant manager with congenital insensitivity to pain analgesia (CIPA), a real medical condition that renders him unable to feel physical discomfort. While this might sound advantageous, Nate explains it's hardly a superpower – he could still die from unnoticed injuries or even forgetting to empty his bladder.
Living a meticulously baby-proofed existence to avoid accidental self-harm, Nate consumes only "non-chewing food" and spends his evenings playing online video games rather than dating. Quaid, despite his Hollywood lineage (he's the son of Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan), convincingly portrays this risk-averse introvert with a light touch that suits the film's tone.
Nate's carefully controlled life changes dramatically when bank teller Sherry (Amber Midthunder) shows romantic interest in him. After spending the night together, Sherry is taken hostage during a violent bank robbery. When the criminals (led by Jack Nicholson's son Ray Nicholson) kill both the bank manager and responding police officers, Nate impulsively steals a police car to rescue her himself.
The narrative stretch required to justify Nate's heroic intervention feels somewhat forced, especially when he could simply let the remaining police (played by Betty Gabriel and Matt Walsh) handle the situation. However, this questionable decision primarily serves to propel Nate into a series of increasingly gruesome scenarios that exploit his unique condition.
What follows is a blood-soaked odyssey through a restaurant kitchen fight, a tattoo parlor interrogation, and a booby-trapped house that earns its self-aware "Home Alone" reference. Directors Dan Berk and Robert Olsen, working from Lars Jacobson's script, demonstrate skillful comedic timing despite occasional pacing issues – the film includes too many false endings and runs about 20 minutes too long.
"Novocaine" stands above recent failed action comedies through clever sequences, including one where Nate convinces his captor to torture him as slowly as possible, buying time while pretending to feel pain. The film revels in its protagonist's physical suffering, featuring scenes of impalement, burns, and various mutilations that elicit involuntary audience reactions – truly a movie best experienced in the communal setting of a theater.
Opening with R.E.M.'s mournful anthem "Everybody Hurts" as an ironic counterpoint, "Novocaine" offers 110 minutes of violent entertainment that, while not groundbreaking, delivers its bloody concept with enough style and self-awareness to satisfy action-comedy fans looking for a visceral cinematic experience.