Out in Irish cinemas, this week is Novocaine, starring Jack Quaid and Amber Midthunder. This is an off-the-wall action rom-com. Novocaine follows Nathan (Quaid) an assistant bank manager who suffers from Congenital insensitivity to pain or CIP for short. This disease means that Nathan doesn’t feel pain, and so he has to be very careful in his everyday life. This means he is quite closed off and insular.
One day though he gets a kick in the butt from one of the customers, to seize life, and so he asks his coworker Sherry (Midthunder) out because he has been crushing on her hard since she was hired 6 months ago. After getting quite close over the course of a day, Nathan is feeling great, that is until a bank robbery occurs and the bank robbers take Sherry hostage. In a moment of madness, Nathan decides that he should use his “superpower” to save Sherry.
What I loved about Novocaine was the chemistry between Nathan and Sherry. The first act of the film sets up their relationship well. They both exude a bubbly and offbeat charm, and it’s fun and charming. Their dates are excellent points to learn about them and over the course of these two dates, both Midthunder and Quaid are utterly magnetic. I actually found myself wanting more screen time with the two of them together.
Novocaine – It’s not a superpower
The other selling point of Novocaine is its action set pieces and what happens to Nathan within them. You see writing for a character who doesn’t feel pain can be tough. We empathise with characters because we feel their pain, and that is usually expressed through their cries of pain. Nathan does not have that, so the film relies on the affability of Nathan, and with Jack Quaid’s acting I found myself worrying for him nonstop. He can’t feel the pain, but I felt for him and it made all the action scenes so much fun.
Also, the action scenes are brilliant, an excellent combination of comedy and kinetic action. There is a scene between Nathan and one of the baddies in a kitchen which is a lot of fun and sets the stage for what is to come in the film. The writing for the film, for the most part, is a lot of fun. Quaid is great to watch travelling to each location searching for Sherry. If there is anything that brings the film down, the third act does push the credibility of the narrative almost to its breaking point. Thankfully though, it’s the end of the film before you really have to worry about it.
Overall, what makes Novocaine fun is its action, but what made it so much more for me what the relationship between Sherry and Nathan, which is a sweet romance tinged with some real world bitterness.
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