Novocaine

It's not as fun as it should be...

Novocaine feels like a brainstorming session for itself, which is all very well, until you realise that the only part being fully exercised is the lizard brain.

Quaid’s personable screen presence holds things together, even as his brutally beaten body starts to fall apart. But this gory action comedy has just one joke, and like poor, battered and bleeding Nathan it starts to run out of juice.

It’s an exquisite, though unintentional, symbol of the contemporary studio action movie... These films have become profoundly boring because their protagonists don’t appear to feel pain.

Beyond the creative stunt choreography, Novocaine doesn’t leave much of an impression full stop, and its saccharine ending relegates it to a category of films with intriguing premises that end up ultimately forgettable.

A largely painless viewing experience — but it could have been far more pleasurable.

An idea masquerading as a movie.

It isn’t everything it could have been, but it’s a pain-free experience.



Lame. Even the torture scene is yawn-inducing. Recommended only for those with an undemanding taste for things queasy.

A mostly fun action outing that works more so off the involvement of the effortlessly likeable Jack Quaid.