Director: Dan Berk, Robert Olsen
Cast: Jack Quaid, Amber Midthunder, Ray Nicholson, Jacob Batalon, Betty Gabriel, Matt Walsh
Screenplay: Lars Jacobson
110 mins. Rated R for strong bloody violence, grisly images, and language throughout.

Recent trends in the action genre have led to filmmakers to embrace over-the-top antics over the more realistic shaky cam thrills of the Bourne franchise. Even the heavy-hitters like Jason Statham have been able to find success with projects like The Beekeeper, where he uses witty bee-themed terminology and occasionally kills someone with honey. In Novocaine, we get another gimmick and a lot of over-the-top thrills, and it more than succeeds because of a likable leading performance from Jack Quaid (Oppenheimer).

Nathan Caine (Quaid) is in love. After a wonderful and romantic evening with co-worker Sherry (Amber Midthunder, Dream Scenario), the bank he works at is beset upon by three Santa-clad criminals who rob the vault and kidnap Sherry. Now, Nathan’s on a quest to rescue her, and he’ll stop at nothing, so it’s a great thing that he lacks the ability to feel pain.

Jack Quaid, son of Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan, has been in the business for quite a few years, but it’s only been after starring in The Boys and appearances in the recent Scream sequel and Companion that his abilities have been on full display. In those films, he’s been able to harness a bit of sliminess whereas here he’s endlessly endearing and worthy of rooting for. Even as he destroys his body from one set piece to another, the screenplay from Lars Jacobson gives him the opportunity to express why he doesn’t trust the cops to save Sherry and why he can’t lose the person who made him want to become the man he’s always wanted to be. It’s his likability that makes an overly-heightened and swift romance between Nathan and Sherry actually work onscreen.

Novocaine is bursting with intelligent ways to take the gimmick and use it well (though too much of it is featured in the marketing), and the cinematography and shot composition help to put viewers in on the experience with some clever camera moments that add comedic timing to the action choreography. It’s well orchestrated and shock-inducing. Novocaine also excels in seeing it in a packed theater with plenty of people leaning back and covering their eyes. There’s a grossness in the intensity that made for plenty of thrills perfect for the theatrical experience.

Even with the trailers displaying much of the film’s action, there are still thrills to be had with Novocaine, including more than a few twists and turns that I did not expect. Not all of it works, and the movie suffers from 4th-Act syndrome, just a little too bloated in its finale, but Nathan Caine has the makings of a franchise hero with an absolutely delightful leading performance from Jack Quaid (and with Ray Nicholson as the villain, there’s a potential hook for future sequels where Caine has to fight other children of famous performers, Wyatt Russell should stay by the phone). We need more holiday-themed genre pictures, and we need heroes like Nathan Caine. Novocaine, much like its lead hero, is a painless experience, one that makes use of its gimmick well.

3.5/5
-Kyle A. Goethe