NOVOCAINE (2025)

Hollywood is attempting a comeback of the action comedy. With films like Violent Night (2022), Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022), and Love Hurts (2025), it feels like a concerted effort to get the stand-alone action comedy with no superheroes attached back on its feet.

As a huge fan of 1980s and 1990s action comedies, I applaud this effort. However, like many attempts in modern Hollywood, the results of this experiment have been mixed. For every Everything Everywhere All at Once there’s an Expendables IV (2023), and at least five more that fall into the mediocre category. These offerings are a fun diversion for a couple of hours, but they won’t stay with you after your trip to the cinema, and you’re not likely to seek them out again. And despite the best efforts of a top-tier cast and brilliant fight choreography, Novocaine falls securely into this middling group.

The plot centres around assistant bank manager Nathan Caine (Jack Quaid). He’s the kind of nerdy protagonist this genre is fond of: cautious, safe, lonely, and unable to speak to the girl of his dreams, Sherry (Amber Midthunder), who also happens to be a teller at his bank. The one thing that sets Nate apart from previous nerdy action heroes of the genre is his inability to feel pain due to a genetic disorder. When Sherry is kidnapped during a bank robbery, Nate uses his special ability to take on the bad guys and try to save her life.

Jack Quaid (Scream) is perfectly cast in this title role, and his brand of self-deprecating humour will give you more than a chuckle. Likewise, Amber Midthunder (Prey) is likeable and endearing. Sherry and Nate’s chemistry and connection are made clear and believable early on. Unlike other offerings like Love Hurts where the attempted love story was the film’s major weakness, here, we fully understand why Nate would go to such great lengths to get Sherry back.

And, though he can’t feel pain, he does put his body through the ringer.  The fight scenes and stunts are executed so creatively that it’s clear this was the main drive behind making the film in the first place. Nate’s nonchalant reaction to some of his most horrifying injuries is also what makes the comedic moments truly land.

The talent of the two leads and top-notch fight scenes, honestly, should have put this movie up there with some of the great action comedies. What makes the film fall short is its mind-numbingly simplistic plot and lack of attention to any other characters outside of Nate and Sherry.

If you come to the cinema expecting surprises or a good, strong heist storyline, you’ll be very disappointed. The few plot twists that exist were either given away in the trailer or are so obvious that most audience members will be able to call them within the first 35 minutes of run time. Now, usually, I’m all for simplicity in my action movies. But, there still has to be some level of tension or surprise for the audience to get truly invested. There’s none of that here.

The simplicity of the plot also forces the film to underutilise its supporting characters. Nate’s friend Rosco, (Jacob Batalon) for example, is supposed to be our hero’s “only friend”. Yet, we don’t see this dynamic at all other than through phone calls and a few video games where Rosco is only a voice. When Batalon is allowed on screen, he’s every bit as funny and watchable as we expected him to be.

Had directors Dan Burke and Robert Olsen put more thought into the character, we could have seen Novocaine become a riotously funny buddy comedy as well as a kick-ass action film and sweet love story.

Instead, the filmmakers decided to keep the talented Batalon off-screen for the majority of the film. Why? So they can execute a half-hearted gamer joke about Jason Momoa (Aquaman) that doesn’t land at all (mostly since the marketers of the film decided to use Batalon copiously in the trailer).

Veteran television and film actor Matt Walsh is also criminally underutilised as a lackadaisical, hard-drinking police detective. His dry commentary on the various crime scenes met with some of the biggest laughs of the film. Yet, instead of using him to his full potential, he;s dispatched unceremoniously after only a few scenes.

While I blame the writers for their misuse of most of the supporting cast, I also recognise the lack of character isn’t entirely their fault. The main villain, Simon (Ray Nicholson), is given enough screen time and written material for a compelling bad guy to emerge. It’s clear from the lines Nicholson spouts that he’s supposed to be the mirror opposite of Nate. While Nate can’t feel physical pain, he has a great depth of emotional feeling.

Simon is supposed to be a complete psychopath who can feel physical pain but lacks all empathy and emotion. That’s what was supposed to be conveyed. In this case, the actor, Nicholson, falls short. He delivers every line with a forced gleeful laugh that, nonetheless, holds something back. That something isn’t scary or intimidating, it’s almost embarrassing. Looking at Nicholson on the screen it’s as though he’s trying to do a poor impression of the Joker and wondering the whole time whether or not he’s doing a good job.

If Nicholson had fully committed to the role, or if they had chosen an actor who was willing to fully commit, Simon Greenly could have been one of the most interesting and hated villains in film history. Instead, he’s just another cliché bad guy who we’re mildly interested in seeing get his comeuppance.

In the end, while Jack Quaid is hilarious and the fight scenes are more than entertaining, the lack of complexity to the plot and villains and the underutilisation of a mostly talented supporting cast will make Novocaine fade fairly quickly from the minds of its viewers. Like anaesthesia, you enjoy the tingling sensation, but it leaves you feeling numb.

USA | 2025 | 110 MINUTES | 2.39:1 | COLOUR | ENGLISH

Cast & Crew

directors: Dan Berk & Robert Olsen.
writer: Lars Jacobson.
starring: Jack Quaid, Amber Midthunder, Ray Nicholson, Betty Gabriel, Matt Walsh & Jacob Batalon.