Novocaine: No Pain, Plenty of Problems

Some movies ask you to suspend disbelief. Novocaine asks you to suspend a man’s skeleton and not think too hard about the medical bill.

Nathan Caine, played by Jack Quaid, cannot feel physical pain. This sounds useful until a bank robbery turns his workplace into a crime scene and his romantic interest, Sherry, is taken hostage. Nathan then decides the sensible response is to chase armed criminals through San Diego, despite having roughly the survival instincts of a determined houseplant.

The premise is ridiculous, but the movie knows it. Dan Berk and Robert Olsen keep the action moving with inventive fights, grimly funny injuries, and just enough charm to make the whole thing go down easier than it probably should. Every time Nathan gets hurt, the film finds a new way to make us wince while he stands there looking inconvenienced. His body is filing complaints; he simply lacks the nerve endings to read them.

Quaid is the secret weapon. He gives Nathan an appealing awkwardness without making him helpless, and his chemistry with Amber Midthunder adds a surprisingly sweet center to the chaos. Midthunder brings enough energy to make Sherry feel like a person rather than merely the movie’s kidnapping-shaped plot device.

Novocaine is not interested in becoming an action classic. It wants to be a bloody, funny, sincere good time, and it succeeds often enough to earn its scars. Watch it when you want romance, violence, and a protagonist who treats catastrophic injury like an annoying technical problem.