Novocaine 2025 Movie Review Trailer

 Now that John Wick is perhaps gone for good (at least if Keanu Reeves has anything to say about it), we’re in the era of unexpected action stars. We’ve seen Bob Odenkirk and Ke Huy Quan take their affable, run-of-the-mill personas and become action powerhouses (in 2021’s Nobody and this year’s Love Hurts, respectively). While we still have the traditional action stars of today (hello, Jason Statham!), there’s a new area of ​​opportunity to exploit. Welcome to the club, Novocaine.

Jack Quaid, fresh off another genre-blending film (the sci-fi/horror film Companion), brings his boy-next-door charm to the role of Nathan Caine, an anxious assistant manager at a bank who seems to live a rather dull and monotonous life. We first see him sadly going about his morning routine as R.E.M.’s “Everybody Hurts” plays, effectively setting the tone for Nate’s current emotional state. Nate has a neurological disorder that prevents him from feeling any kind of pain, or things like heat or cold. It seems like a dream, but as Nate soon reveals, it has led him to adopt a very lonely existence.

Directors: Dan Berk, Robert Olsen
Writer: Lars Jacobson
Stars: Jack Quaid, Amber Midthunder, Ray Nicholson

As often happens in movies, everything changes when love enters the picture. For months, Nate has been pining for Sherry (Amber Midthunder), a co-worker at his bank, and a spilled coffee pot leads them to a lunch date that turns into possibly the best night of Nate's life. Suddenly, he has an optimistic outlook on life and pushes the boundaries of his disorder. And then, Sherry is taken hostage by a trio of violent bank robbers.

Directors Dan Berk and Robert Olsen take pains to show us how careful Nate is when it comes to his disorder. Every sharp edge in his home and office is covered by a tennis ball, and he refrains from eating solid food for fear of accidentally biting his tongue without realizing it. Nate has spent his life being overly cautious, but it only takes one night with Sherry to make him put everything he knows aside. When thugs led by Simon (Ray Nicholson) pull her over, Nate doesn't hesitate too long before stealing a police car and chasing them down.

This abrupt turn would feel very jarring and unrealistic in any other movie. However, Berk and Olsen have given Novocaine a giddy, heightened energy that makes all the absurdities of the plot disappear. Nate is on a great ride and we're all very happy to go along. It helps that Quaid and Midthunder have sweet chemistry and that Nate and Sherry's initial date serves to deepen both of their characters - we can understand why Nate would be so eager to go after her, even at the risk of his own life.

Because of his inability to feel pain, Nate has a huge advantage. A gun falls into a vat of boiling oil? No problem - he can grab it while the bad guy he's fighting will back away. An arrow suddenly goes through his leg? No matter, he'll just crawl around awkwardly until he can pull it out. It's a unique hook for an action movie, and Novocaine makes the most of it. This is true both in regards to humor and stakes. With the latter, the film doesn't forget that a lack of pain doesn't mean Nate is invincible.

As for humor, I had some concerns that the Novocaine trailer had given away the funniest moments and ruined some of the charm of Quaid's performance. Thankfully, that's not the case, making for a genuinely funny film that had the audience in my theater laughing out loud. Much of the credit goes to Quaid, who fully establishes himself as the lead by deftly interweaving Nate's polite, bumbling demeanor with his growing determination to save Sherry at all costs. His comic timing is spot-on throughout.

Novocaine is really Quaid's show, but all of the supporting stars get a chance to shine. Already an action star thanks to Prey, Midthunder reaffirms that she's far from a damsel in distress and makes Sherry's resilience (for better or worse) her defining characteristic, elevating a role that might have been underrated. Jacob Batalon, though returning to play a nerdy hero's sidekick after his time in the MCU's Spider-Man films, emphasizes his strength as a comedic actor.

Even the two detectives pursuing Nate make an impression, though they might have been a very poor fit for the plot. With only a few scenes and some excellent one-liners, Matt Walsh and Betty Gabriel ramp up the humor and thrills. The full Novocaine ensemble only serves to elevate the material further.

 Watch Novocaine 2025 Movie Trailer