Outdoors of established IP and franchise-building, the one “authentic” motion pictures that appear to get greenlit at main studios are these with high-concept, easy-to-sell premises. To its credit score, “Novocaine” has a nifty little hook, although it begins to really feel stale after concerning the first twenty minutes. The story facilities round Nathan Caine (Jack Quaid), a lowly junior financial institution supervisor who, as a consequence of a uncommon dysfunction, can not really feel ache. This implies he will be punched, stabbed, poked, prodded, and have scorching espresso spilled on him—and he gained’t really feel a factor. It’s a enjoyable concept that shortly turns into nothing greater than a recurring punchline. We get it—you may’t be harm, however absolutely there’s one thing extra beneath the floor, proper? RIGHT?!
As a substitute, Nathan makes use of his so-called “superpowers” to assist rescue one in all his workers, Sherry (Amber Midthunder, from “Prey”), after feeling an instantaneous connection together with her following only one date. That’s it. One date, and Nathan is able to danger his life and chase down a bunch of ruthless, Santa-clad financial institution robbers. It is likely to be a neater promote if Quaid and Midthunder had even the slightest chemistry, however alas, the sparks by no means fly.
We’re left with Nathan, a financial institution supervisor who spends his days behind a desk, immediately reworking right into a full-blown motion hero—with none rationalization as to how he turns into such an professional fighter. It’s paying homage to the far superior motion movie “No one,” the place the backstory of Bob Odenkirk’s character made it believable that he may tackle a bunch of Russian thugs in shut quarters. (For the file, that single sequence was much more invigorating and thrilling than something in “Novocaine.”)
The repetitive nature of the struggle scenes looks like being caught on the identical degree in a online game—monotonous and uninspired. Administrators Dan Berk and Robert Olsen shoot these sequences with the aptitude of a poorly edited music video, missing any actual model or id. The place’s the innovation?
Quaid, so good in “Companion” this yr, can’t fairly leverage his attraction to beat a script filled with low-cost one-liners and the endless joke of his lack of ability to really feel something. His zippy sidekick, performed by “Spider-Man” star Jacob Batalon, doesn’t add a lot, and the first villain, performed by a smarmy Ray Nicholson, is painfully flat. “Novocaine” is a movie that desperately tries to emulate the grungy, guerrilla model of a decrease budgeted Michael Bay film, however in doing so, it in the end, akin to the primary character, leaves you feeling nothing.
NOVOCAINE opens in theaters Friday, March 14th.