Novocaine Parent Guide

Mild-mannered assistant bank manager Nathan Caine (Jack Quaid) has never taken a risk he could avoid. Nate was born with a congenital insensitivity to pain, which sounds great, but actually means that he has a pretty good shot at dying young. He can’t tell when something is hurting him, and without that crucial information, could easily miss a fatal injury that would leave someone else screaming on the ground. So he’s careful. Very careful. And quite lonely, as a result. It’s hard to get close to a guy who can’t eat solid food for fear of biting his own tongue off.

Sherry (Amber Midthunder), one of the tellers at Nate’s bank, is as close to Nate as anybody. She even managed to pull him out of the house on a date! Just when Nate thinks he might have a lucky break, his bank is robbed, the manager killed, and Sherry abducted by the robbers. So Nate does what anybody would do for a girl he’s spent one night with: Steal a cop car, grab a gun, and tear off after her. And it’s not long before Nate realizes that there are some advantages to having a complete insensitivity to pain.

Not that that stopped the screenwriters from being remarkably creative. Without spoiling anything after the first 20 minutes, poor old Nate gets scalded, beaten, pistol-whipped, deep-fried, and shot. It’s downhill after that. You can also expect a good deal of profanity, an evening of undressing (but only to underwear) and making out – wouldn’t want to scare off the K-6 audience.

Surprisingly, for genre fans Novocaine is a fun watch. I should clarify: This is a fun watch if you can find the humor in the over-the-top gore. If that’s not your thing, then this movie is more likely to make you queasy than amused. But since, as my previous reviews will testify, I like dark movies, I had a blast. The film also benefits tremendously from the fun chemistry between its leads. Amber Midthunder is in the unusual position of having two movies opening on the same day - Novocaine and Opus. If you’re only seeing one, make it this one, and not just because Amber Midthunder doesn’t get any dialogue in Opus. A light-hearted, fast-paced, and good-humored bloody crime spree through San Diego is a much better option.