Novocaine: A Pain-Free, Laugh-Packed Action Ride That Delivers

Other than maybe comedy and horror, comedy and action is the best genre mashup around. Those two styles just complement each other incredibly well, so naturally, I’ve been super excited for the new action comedy Novocaine ever since I first heard about it. The premise alone was enough to pique my interest, but what really sent my anticipation through the roof was the trailer. This film looked like it would blend its two genres nearly to perfection, so when I got the chance to attend an early screening at my local AMC, I couldn’t say no. I eagerly purchased a ticket as soon as I got home from work, and now that I’ve finally seen the movie, I’m happy to report that it totally delivers.

Novocaine was directed by Dan Berk and Robert Olsen, and it stars Jack Quaid, Amber Midthunder, Ray Nicholson, Jacob Batalon, Betty Gabriel, and Matt Walsh. In the film, Nathan is an unassuming bank manager with a rare medical condition called congenital insensitivity to pain, or CIP for short. As the name suggests, it means the guy can’t feel pain, so he leads a very careful life. He has to make sure he doesn’t unknowingly injure himself, and for him, that means eschewing any sort of social life. When he’s not working, he just stays home playing video games, but that all changes when he has lunch with Sherry.

She’s one of the tellers at the bank, and they hit it off immediately. Sherry becomes Nathan’s first real friend, and soon after that, she becomes his girlfriend. It seems like life has finally turned around for our poor protagonist, but before he can really savor this newfound happiness, something terrible happens. One day, a group of criminals rob the bank and take Sherry hostage, and without thinking twice, Nathan decides to take matters into his own hands. He follows the thieves in hopes of rescuing the woman he loves, and as luck would have it, his insensitivity to pain comes very much in handy.

Like a lot of the best action flicks, Novocaine doesn’t dive into the mayhem right away. It spends about twenty-five minutes introducing us to the two main characters and their budding relationship, and if you ask me, that’s the exact right storytelling choice. Nathan and Sherry are both incredibly likable, so no matter what’s happening, it’s just an absolute joy to see them on screen.

Let’s start with Nathan. He’s played by Jack Quaid, and if you’ve ever seen The Boys, you know exactly what this guy is like. He has the same dorky, somewhat awkward personality as Hughie, Quaid’s character in that show, and to the surprise of nobody, Quaid knocks it out of the park. He’s so natural in these roles you can’t help but wonder if he’s like that in real life, and just like in The Boys, he also manages to imbue Nathan with the kind of charisma that keeps your eyes glued to the screen whenever he’s around.

He’s simply a super fun character to watch, but he’s not the only great protagonist in the first act of Novocaine. Sherry doesn’t have any noteworthy quirks, but that doesn’t stop actress Amber Midthunder from shining just as brightly as her costar. She takes what could’ve very easily been a bland love interest and turns her into the kind of person you’d love to hang out with, so Nathan and Sherry just might be the year’s best on-screen couple so far (at the very least, they give Ally and Jay from Heart Eyes a run for their money).
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That great lead duo carries the first twenty-five minutes of Novocaine, but their influence doesn’t stop there. They also keep the rest of the movie grounded in genuine humanity, so when the action finally kicks into gear, it’s not just visual noise. You truly care about Nathan and Sherry’s plight, and that emotional connection with the characters makes this more than just an action flick. It’s a love story. It’s about the lengths a man will go to in order to protect the woman he loves, and to quote Inigo Montoya in The Princess Bride, “you could not ask for a more noble cause than that.”

That being said, a great cause is only half the battle. The main character’s pursuit of his goal also has to be entertaining, and on that count, Novocaine is a total slam dunk as well. The action is super fun, but the real star of this show is the comedy. Nathan’s inability to feel pain is played for laughs from beginning to end, so no matter what happens to him, the directing team of Dan Berk and Robert Olsen manage to turn it into a genuinely knee-slapping joke.

On paper, that schtick might sound like it would get old pretty quickly, but the directors don’t let that happen. They constantly find new and inventive ways to make you laugh out loud, and it’s a good thing they do, because Nathan’s injuries get pretty intense at times. To take just a couple of examples, there’s a scene where the guy gets an arrow shot through his leg, and at one point in the film, he even gets some of his fingernails ripped off.

If this wasn’t a comedy, those moments would feel like they came straight out of a gross-out horror flick, but with the gags, they end up being surprisingly lighthearted.  To be fair, the jokes don’t neutralize all of Nathan’s injuries, so the more squeamish among us will probably still struggle with some of them, but on the whole, they’ll make the experience of watching someone endure grievous bodily harm way more enjoyable than you’d ever expect it to be.

It’s an absolute blast and a half, so if you’re a fan of bonkers action comedies, I think you’re going to love Novocaine. It’s not the best movie of this still-young year (as of this writing, that honor goes to a little Italian film called There’s Still Tomorrow), but it’s definitely the most fun, and it grounds that fun in genuine humanity. I walked out of the theater with a big smile on my face, and if this sounds like something you’d enjoy, I think you will too.