The Reel Review
An assistant bank manager with a rare genetic disorder that prevents him from feeling pain goes into hero mode and risks his life when his co-worker/new love interest is taken hostage during a robbery. Jack Quaid, Amber Midthunder and Ray Nicholson star in this romantic comedy/crime thriller.
Although it often crosses the line into gruesome torture porn, the exceptionally violent and gory Novocaine does feature a pretty impressive array of well-choreographed, slow-motion fight sequences and dark humor, as well as a clever, twisty plot. Quaid effortlessly carries the film, although the romantic relationship with Midthunder’s Sherry, who physically holds her own in the third act, is less convincing.
Even so, this silly mashup of Home Alone meets Die Hard from co-directors Dan Berk and Robert Olsen (Significant Other) does get tedious at times, but the supporting cast, with Jack Nicholson’s son Ray (Borderline, Smile 2) as the villain, Betty Gabriel (Defending Jacob, Get Out) and Matt Walsh (Veep) as the detectives and Jacob Batalon (the Spider-Man films, Tarot) as the gamer friend who helps save the day, add just the right amount of levity to the film.
REEL FACTS
• Directors Dan Berk and Robert Olsen say they got the idea of Jack Quaid as their lead after seeing him in The Boys.
• Amber Midthunder (Prey, The Ice Road) is tribal member of the Ft. Peck Indian Reservation in northeastern Montana.
• Although set in San Diego, Novocaine was filmed in Cape Town, South Africa.
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