Nathan Caine, portrayed by Jack Quaid, can’t feel anything in “Novocaine.” More specifically, he was born with congenital insensitivity to pain, or CIP. This real but scarce condition fundamentally changes how he lives his life. CIP doesn’t make him invincible — Nathan is still human, with a human body; the only difference is that he can’t feel what’s happening to him. He could hurt himself without even knowing it, so he covers up anything that could cause injury in his home. He could bite his tongue off while eating, so he doesn’t eat — only drinking the nutrients he needs during the day.
This leads Nathan to live a very mundane life. He drives a safe car, works a safe job at a credit union and plays video games alone rather than going out into the uncertainty of the world.
The first act plays out as a fun romantic comedy. Nathan meets Sherry, played by Amber Midthunder. It’s obvious from the start these characters have chemistry. Their interactions are awkward, but the pair fit well together. The audience is an omnipotent third wheel as Sherry pulls Nathan out of his comfort zone — and he’s loving the ride. All this changes, however, about 30 minutes into the film.
This movie quickly takes a hard swing from rom-com to grotesque action thriller. In a single scene, the credit union is robbed, his boss is killed and Sherry is kidnapped. Taken hostage in the robbery, it’s up to Nathan to save her. From here, the rest of the movie follows him as he uncovers clues and learns more about himself and Sherry through a heaping sum of action sequences. This is where the movie’s writing starts to become hit-or-miss. Some scenes are written very well, with fantastic attention to detail around Nathan’s CIP and great character moments. However, an equal or greater amount of scenes feel rushed with out-of-place lines, character motivation that isn’t realistic and a general disregard for the accuracy of what people with CIP face. Furthermore, acting in this stretch of the film ranges from decent to blatantly bad, with the exception of our main characters. Side characters have weird line deliveries, consistency issues between scenes and sub-par performances.
So, what are the positives to “Novocaine?” To start, this is Jack Quaid’s first real opportunity at a leading role on the big screen, and he delivers. He is perfectly genuine and charming, with a hint of heroism that only grows with him throughout the film. His chemistry with Amber Midthunder is fantastically awkward, and both character depictions feel real. Along with the main villain of the film, Simon, portrayed by Ray Nicholson, these actors have the standout performances that make this movie tick.
Beyond the acting, the visuals in this film are fantastic. From the uncommon yet fitting camera angles between Sherry and Nathan to the gut-wrenching, hard-hitting fight scenes to come, it is a pleasure to watch — as long as you can handle gore. Nathan gets bloody, broken and bruised, strikingly and realistically.
As a sum of its parts, this film isn’t anything Hollywood hasn’t seen before. But if you’re looking for something simple, you can handle the gore and want an action movie with a fresh idea, “Novocaine” is well worth your time. Due to the awkward one-liners and flimsy story, I would rate this movie 3 / 5 stars.
