Novocaine review: Some bright ideas in pretend superhero film, but joke soon wears thin

In cinemas; Cert 16

Jack Quaid and Amber Midthunder in ‘Novocaine’

You might have some questions after you’re finished with Novocaine. Why, for instance, is this zippy, bone-crunching action comedy set at Christmas?

How did Nathan Caine (Jack Quaid), the film’s nervy lead, get so good at fighting? Are all bank robbers as silly as the ones depicted here – and is Novocaine actually a superhero film? Not really, but it sometimes acts like one. Directors Dan Berk and Robert Olsen make the most of their one good idea.

Nathan is an assistant bank manager who has fallen head over heels for a charming clerk at his branch. Our boy can’t believe his luck when Sherry (an excellent Amber Midthunder) asks him out for lunch. That’s when Nathan finally tells her the truth about himself: he can’t feel pain.

It’s a real genetic disorder, and it means Nathan lives a more sheltered life than others. But what would happen if the one good thing in that life was kidnapped on a sunny Christmas Eve in San Diego? Does Nathan have it in him to save the day?

Apparently so, and Novocaine puts its enthusiastic front man – and its audience – through the wringer. Fun for an hour or so, but the joke eventually wears thin.

Three stars

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