HOLLYWOOD—Why does it feel like the movies that you least expect tend to deliver more than the movies we have high expectations for? I was thoroughly entertained by the action-thriller “Novocaine.” I would argue that it has bits of comedy in it as well. The movie follows Nathan Caine (Jack Quaid), an assistant manager at a credit union.
He is a bit of a social recluse because he suffers from CIPA (Congenital Insensitivity to Pain with Anhidrosis). Simply put, he doesn’t feel pain, and because of that when he has accidents like spilling very hot coffee on his hand, he doesn’t notice it, even if the scars and burns don’t look pretty.
Quaid is quite fantastic in the role, charming, clever, and commands the screen and really makes the narrative click. You would think a movie about a bank heist and the least likely hero, a man who can’t feel any pain would be the person you root the most for. Nathan doesn’t bother anyone, yet he finds himself to be the butt of so many jokes, that is until he charms up a relationship with Sherry (Amber Midthunder). Sherry works with Nathan at the credit union, and she gets him to break out of his shell a bit after sharing a slice of cherry pie.
Midhtunder and Quaid have great chemistry and as a viewer you root for the colleagues to have a charming relationship. They do take their relationship to the next level quickly, but it works. All is going well in Nathan’s life until the credit union is robbed one day by a group of men dressed as Santa Claus. It’s an interesting scene because it’s a bit more violent than I expected and Nathan tries to play hero when Sherry gets in harm’s way and taken as a hostage by the banker robbers.
This propels Nathan to go on a rescue mission to save the girl who he ‘loves.’ It would be more appropriate to say that after seeing some attention after being virtually ignored most of his life by his illness. That illness leads to hilarity. Where he is punched silly, he gets stabbed more times than I can count. He is shot and reacts like it is no big deal. I sometimes wonder if having such a ‘power’ as many people call it would be exciting, but then when you see all the pain that this character endures you think not so much.
The damage all those wounds would do to the body is not good, not good at all. I must give extra kudos to the movie’s big bad portrayed by the son of iconic actor Jack Nicholson, in his son, Ray Nicholson. Oh, Ray is Jack’s son, and there is no denying it because he’s the spitting image of his father. However, he chews and eats up this villainous role and I love it. He portrayed the villain that you loved to hate and was a bit unpredictable; you don’t know what he will do, which is a villain that teeters on the edge of danger and insanity.
The film does have a few twists that I did not expect and took me by surprise as the narrative unfolded. Loved the big climax and it has a solid ending that is satisfying as a spectator. “Novocaine” is the surprise that I didn’t expect and it’s a movie that I would absolutely have in my collection, it was a good time where I didn’t get bored once.
