Written by Lars Jacobson and directed by Dan Berk and Robert Olsen, the new action-comedy-thriller Novocaine, is a one-joke premise stretched out to just under two hours. And what a gloriously infectious entertainment it turns out to be! With a surprising focus on character and enough twisted comedy and broken bones to keep genre audiences cheering, this is one brutal, bloody, and raucous good time. 

Jack Quaid is having more than a mere “moment”. Still riding high on his breakout performance in Amazon’s hit anti-superhero show, The Boys, and his strong work in this year’s excellent Sci-Fi thriller, Companion, the son of actors Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan is cutting his own path and proving himself a versatile talent who can traverse different genres with skill and ease; embodying a natural sense of humor and undeniable charm that was made for the big screen. In a Hollywood where the era of the movie star is fading fast, Jack Quaid has the perfect combination of talent and personality to make him one of the most popular leading men of his generation. 

In Novocaine, Quaid stars as Nathan Caine, an assistant manager of a credit union who lives a fairly lonely life in San Diego. His one friend, Roscoe (Jacob Batalon), is just a voice in his headphones, as the two play online video games and have never met in person. The socially awkward Nathan feels out of place in a crowd of “normal” people. The reason for such a distant life of self-imposed exile is that he lives with the rare genetic disorder, CIP (congenital insensitivity to pain). Due to a body’s inability to feel pain, people with CIP have shorter life expectancies; another factor in Nathan’s distance from relationships. 

Carefully letting his guard down, he falls for new employee Sherry (an intoxicating Amber Midthunder), a young woman who helps him step outside of his safe space and ignites a romance that gives Nathan a new outlook on living a fuller life. 

Quaid and Midthunder have an instant chemistry. Their scenes together are very well crafted, as the two actors share some of the film’s best character moments. Lars Jacobson’s screenplay is a breath of fresh air as Nathan and Sherry are given room to become relatable to anyone in the audience who has ever had their life changed by love. There is great interest to be found in watching these two characters develop in such a short time, as the action begins in the first 20 minutes and doesn’t stop. The naturalistic dialogue shared between the two is never forced. It is such a pleasure to watch Nathan and Sherry falling for one another that the action could have held off a while longer. 

When Sherry is taken hostage during a violent bank robbery where cops and civilians are killed, ol’ “Novocaine” (the unwanted moniker given to him by childhood bullies) REALLY leaves his risk-averse safe zone and sets out to save his new love. As skittish as he has been all of these years, why wouldn’t Nathan leave the heavy lifting to the police? It doesn’t matter. Once our reluctant hero steals a cop car and a gun (after saving the life of a shot policeman) his newfound bravery will be put to the test in some of the most exciting and violently-slapstick action set pieces of the new year. 

The bad guys are led by the maniacal and deadly Simon (Ray Nicholson). The actor doesn’t sink his teeth into the role, he bites down and tears the flesh off of the character. Nicholson creates one of the more watchable villains in some time, walking a fine line of over-the-top craziness, but never crossing it. Simon is a killer who seems to have zero remorse when it comes to his victims, but he isn’t written nor portrayed as the type of cardboard baddie we see in most of today’s action thrillers. As he proved in Neil LaBute’s under-seen 2022 erotic thriller, Out of the Blue, Ray Nicholson is a fine actor with many tricks up his sleeve. That he is the son of Jack Nicholson only adds to his on-screen fire. 

In another delightful bit of casting, Betty Gabriel and Matt Walsh make their respective marks as the two detectives chasing the bad guys and trying to figure out Nathan’s place amongst all the criminal madness.  

Novocaine features a bloody bouquet of expertly designed action scenes that will have popcorn-chomping audiences cheering with delight. Berk and Olsen purposely stretch the limits of believability in the film’s violence, but won’t let themselves fall off the edge. The directors are fully committed to using hardcore stunts and practical FX to give a visceral edge to such outrageous moments of mayhem. 

Nathan is subject to the brunt of the film’s ultra-violence, as he is shot, sliced, stabbed, and so much more. A scene where he is tied to a chair and tortured is particularly funny while a crazy sequence where he must navigate a house set with boobytraps plays like Home Alone by way of Walter Hill. 

Is the screenplay designed in a way to put Nathan in constant situations where his body is put through the tortures of the damned? Would you want anything less? Jacobson shoves his lead character into a gauntlet of exaggerated violence while making us gasp and laugh simultaneously. Whether he is impaled by an arrow or forced to put his bare hand in boiling grease, Nathan can take the pain he cannot feel. In what is sure to be a crowd-pleasing moment, he shoves his knuckles into shards of broken glass, using them as weapons against his opponent. As Nathan punishes his own body, his assailants always get it worse. 

The stunt teams and fight choreography are top tier, amping up each new fracas with a refreshing inventiveness and balls-out brutality. The audience is given no time to catch their breath. Once the action starts, bones break, cars crash, and bullets fly in a nonstop inferno of laughs and blood-splattered excitement.

Directors Berk and Olsen and screenwriter Jacobson manage to give some meaning to the madness. There is a message in there about accepting oneself (imperfections and all) and allowing an open heart. It is rare to find such a sweetness inside a film designed for carnage. If the film has a few miniscule imperfections (a plot twist that seems unnecessary), the filmmakers deserve credit for capturing a little bit of humanity while the bodies fall. 

This is a film that deserves to find a big audience. Viewing it in a theater full of action fans will be quite the fun experience. It is the rare Hollywood movie that surprises today’s jaded moviegoers, and this one will have them gasping with shock and glee. Led by Jack Quaid’s infectious performance and a shotgun blast of creativity, Novocaine is a film that delivers. 

Novocaine

Written by Lars Jacobson

Directed by Dan Berk & Robert Olsen

Starring Jack Quaid, Amber Midthunder, Ray Nicholson, Betty Gabriel, MAtt Walsh, Jacob Batalon

R, 110 Minutes, Paramount Pictures, Infrared, Safehouse Pictures