‘Novocaine’ 4K UHD Blu-ray (review)

Paramount Pictures

Working as an assistant manager in a bank, Nate (Jack Quaid) seems like your average Joe who alternates between 9 to 5 office life and solitary nights spent gaming.

However, there is more than meets the eye with this shy loner, as a congenital condition means he is incapable of feeling pain, but therefore also much more susceptible to accidental injury or death.

Seemingly resigned to a life of solitude and the safety of mundanity, excitement still manages to make its way into his life when sparks begin to fly between him and his colleague, Sherry (Amber Midthunder), but Nate suddenly gets more excitement than he bargained for when armed robbers descend on the bank, taking Sherry hostage as they flee the scene.

Determined to save his new love, Nate throws himself into a mad chase to catch up with the robbers.

And while his inability to feel pain does have its benefits when up against a bunch of aggressive criminals, the question of Nate’s longevity looms larger and larger as he slowly closes in on the gang’s ringleader.

Rubbing shoulders with the likes of 2021’s Nobody, Novocaine seeks to enter the canon of revenge action capers that have almost become a genre in their own right over the course of the past decade.

After establishing its premise and characters with light-hearted ease, the film shifts gears to a kinetic playfulness, where Quaid’s inherently charming nature and commitment to physicality pays off well, causing many an audience member to exclaim with equal parts disgust and delight at the grotesquely amusing action scenes unfolding in relentless fashion.

Surprisingly gory, the filmmakers clearly relished playing around with the multitude of ways the main character could maim himself, which at times verges on Deadpool-esque in its nonchalantly blood-spattered grossness, yet the film largely manages to suspend disbelief enough to keep the viewer invested in Nate’s quest and the endless obstacles he encounters along the way.

However, as the proceedings continue and the narrative throws in a few twists and turns, the novelty of watching Nate wreck himself while maintaining an aw-shucks demeanor begins to wear thin, resulting in the film eventually beginning to drag, and at 110 minutes, Novocaine becomes needlessly long in the tooth.

While Quaid has long since proven his merit as an actor in his own right, he is undeniably still a product of his parentage, as he exudes an, at times, unnerving mix of his father’s playful intensity and his mother’s charming relatability, which makes him an ideal casting choice for Novocaine’s main protagonist.

Midthunder burns bright with as much intensity as ever, and while her interplay with Quaid exhibits both effortless range and a charming, subdued chemistry, her talent ultimately feels squandered with her spending too much time as a passive damsel in distress.

As any cineaste will tell you, genre fads come and go, and the revenge action caper has been toeing oversaturation for some time now, currently being at the brink of the type of chronic fatigue usually associated with superhero movies.

Thus, while Novocaine is competently realized with a talented and committed cast to boot, it unfortunately does not manage to leave any meaningful impression, as both Nobody and Deadpool have already left indelible marks on the cinema landscape with their combination of humor and violence, making Novocaine a perfectly enjoyable film you will forget as soon as the credits start to roll.

Extras include featurettes.

Verdict: 6 out of 10.