Novocaine review – no pain, no gain

Jack Quaid delivers a charming performance as a man incapable of feeling pain in Dan Berk and Robert Olsen's ultraviolent action-comedy.

Mild-mannered bank worker and gaming enthusiast Nathan Caine (Jack Quaid) has spent his whole life avoiding potential injury. It’s not that he’s hypersensitive – in fact, Nathan has the opposite problem, born with Congenital Insensitivity to Pain and Anhydrosis (CIPA) which means, as one might gather from the name of the condition, his nervous system doesn’t register any response to injury. This means even every day tasks like eating pose a risk (he could chew through his tongue without realising) and he’s led a ceaselessly cautious life as a result – until he develops a crush on co-worker Sherry (Amber Midthunder) who introduces him to cherry pie and first-date sexual encounters.

Nathan’s new lease on life (and blossoming romantic relationship) are rudely interrupted when a group of bank robbers dressed as Santa burst into the credit union where he works as an assistant manager and demand access to the vault. With Sherry taken hostage, Nathan decides to do something wildly out of character and get her back despite the great risk to his own wellbeing. As it turns out, his inability to feel pain makes Nathan just the right man to go toe-to-toe with a trio of violent goons, making him decidedly more gung ho about his rescue mission than anyone who knows how it feels to get shot.

Quaid is well cast as the gawky everyman, having apparently attended the same charm school as his mother (Meg Ryan). The role might not be that far removed from his performance in Prime TV’s The Boys, but he does a lot with a little, gamely bringing to life this scrappy underdog. His rapport with Midthunder is enough to root for even if her character is a hodgepodge of quirky girl clichés, and the strange blend of gory action-thriller and romantic comedy works surprisingly well. It’s certainly not for the faint of heart though, particularly if you’re sensitive to snapped bones or hands dipped in deep fat friers. The plot falters by revealing its hand too soon, and dividing the action between Nate and the robbers-slash-kidnappers in a way that creates a lagging sensation.

There’s also little exploration of CIPA – very much a real condition – beyond the comedic potential it presents, which feels like a missed opportunity to widen understanding (though granted perhaps the writers didn’t feel equipped to do so in a film already straddling at least three genres). We are offered little insight into Nathan’s life prior to Sherry beyond vague stereotypes about him being a friendless loser, and the addition of Jacob Batalon at his virtual BFF (playing essentially the same quippy comic relief character he plays in the Spider-Man films) does little to shift the needle on that. In fact, 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.

Published 27 Mar 2025

Tags: Dan Berk Jack Quaid Novocaine Robert Olsen