Novocaine

Nathan Caine is a mild mannered introvert with congenital insensitivity to a pain with anhidrosis. Working as an assistant manager at a credit union in San Diego, Caine eventually becomes romantically involved with a coworker named Sherry. But after she is taken hostage by a group of bank robbers one day, Caine turns his inability to feel pain into an unexpected advantage when he goes out to fight the thugs who kidnapped her.

Now, I'm a fan of Jack Quaid. I like his work on The Boys, Scream, and even this year’s Companion. So, I'm glad that Quaid has been getting a lot of work lately, because I definitely think that he has shown that he can be a capable leading man. And I think his performance here only proves that point even further.

Nathan Caine is a fun character that perfectly suits Quaid's ability as an actor. However, while I enjoyed seeing Quaid having fun in this movie, I have to admit that I thought the film, overall, was just okay.

Yes, despite the fact that Novocaine has been met with positive reactions, I can't deny that I was a bit disappointed by it. Now, don't get me wrong, this is definitely a fun and entertaining little movie. But considering all of the positive buzz that the film has received, I guess I was just expecting it to be better than simply fun and entertaining .

Not that there's anything wrong with that. I mean, I may not have loved the film, but I still managed to enjoy the irreverent tone and all of the light hearted performances. I just think the story, itself, was a little too simplistic for my own personal taste. And it's a shame that no one else in this cast - aside from Jack Quaid - really gets the chance to shine here. 

Jacob Batalon plays a fun role as Caine's lying computer friend, but he's basically playing a more crude version of Ned Leeds from Tom Holland's Spider-Man trilogy .

Amber Midthunder is also fine as Caine’s love interest, but compared to her performance in Dan Trachtenberg's Prey, her talents are absolutely wasted here.

Thankfully, these actors do seem to have pretty solid chemistry together. It’s just a shame that their chemistry wasn't enough to elevate the story being told here. Especially since there's not much else to say about the rest of this cast.

So, while seeing someone who can't feel pain endure so much harm is a fun gimmick that does allow for some clever visual gags, I think the story probably would have been served better as a short film, an SNL sketch, or even a random  Marvel parody on YouTube .

Still, I can't deny that the movie is undeniably fun. So I'm happy for all of the people who did enjoy it, because despite all of the issues I may have with it, I wouldn't say that Novocaine is a bad film by any means. I just personally wish that it had a bit more going on, is all. Which is probably why I like Companion better than this film; It had a bit more substance and subtext going on beneath the surface.

But, even with all of that being said, Novocaine would - surprisingly enough - still get a mild recommendation from me.