Critical Recommendation: Novocaine

As luck would have it, I got dealt a full hand of cinematic aces and was fortunate enough to be able to attend an advance screening of Dan Berk and Robert Olsen's Novocaine. My review is actually up before many of the professionals have even gone to see this movie, and I find myself taking a smug sense of pride in that fact, even though maybe 15 people in total are going to read this review if I'm lucky. The theatrical poster for Novocaine intrigued me, but I admittedly hadn't gotten around to taking a look at any of the online promotional material for it. And because I never saw any trailers for Novocaine, I'm weighing the merit of the following statement: I may have just walked in completely blind to what is easily one of the best movies I've seen in the last year, as well as one of the greatest action movies I've ever borne witness to.

For starters, I love tight pacing, and Novocaine is not a movie to waste time. We're immediately dropped straight into a situation of romantic interest between Nathan, a bank executive, and his coworker Shari, a woman who catches his eye. Romance is far from an unusual go-to for Hollywood, but what is fresh about this whole situation is Nathan himself. You see, Nathan suffers from a rare condition that renders him completely unable to feel pain. It's an unusual character trait that is constantly utilized and exploited throughout the duration of Novocaine in intelligent, creative ways. Nathan himself is an unusually likable character, portrayed wonderfully by Jack Quaid in some amusingly awkward ways. There's a naivete to Nathan and his perception of the world to go along with his unusual condition, and it's surprisingly and even shockingly charming.

Additionally, the wit of this movie is unrivaled by anything I've seen in the last year, even pure-bred comedies. Novocaine isn't just intelligent. It can also be hilarious when it wants to, and judging by the reactions of those in the theater with me, I wasn't the only one amused. Aesthetically, the visuals of the movie may not have a ton of flair, but the image is nonetheless extremely crisp and intentional, complementing an array of production design pieces that were expertly selected and masterfully built. And in spite of this technical skill, Novocaine isn't the kind of movie to get lost in its technicalities. It understands what exactly about its story matters: Nathan and everything that matters to him. The concept of someone who can't feel pain is a relatively new one to me, at least as far as film premises in Hollywood go, and I admire the creativity of whoever came up with the idea as well as the skill of all involved in intelligently and repeatedly realizing it in ways that never degrade or detract from Nathan's character in any way. You see, the movie is largely about what happens to Nathan rather than what happens around him, and the filmmakers were kind enough to treat their lead man with a level of decency.

Novocaine eventually takes a hard, hard left turn into the tone of an action thriller, and I admired a boldness I saw here that I rarely get to see in a movie. My admiration may have been enhanced by the fact that I went into it blind, not having seen any trailers or promotional material, but nevertheless, the tonal shift that Novocaine pulls off is still wildly impressive, veering into a mood that, before I knew it, was evocative of another great contemporary heist flick, Edgar Wright's Baby Driver. On a similar note, some of the twists in this movie are excellent and surprisingly sound for how simple they are, raising the stakes of the movie in some truly anxiety-producing ways. Novocaine isn't trying to accomplish too much and doesn't ever really skip forward in time or unnecessarily expand its narrative in any way, containing itself in ways evident of its confidence in itself, letting each and every little plot aspect, detail, and twist shine. Its goal is merely to chronicle the immediate and unpredictable fallout of a bank robbery, and I love this refreshing simplicity and straightforwardness.

Novocaine is bombastic enough to thrill, yet restrained enough to avoid spiraling off into blockbuster-itis. But just because it's simple doesn't mean it's not smart. It even has the presence of mind to utilize a countdown at one point, and if you've read my blog, you might know how much I love those. The trick injects the movie with an additional, incredibly palpable hit of adrenaline, not unlike Nathan actually injecting himself with adrenaline from time to time, which is just one of many ways that I saw individual environments and elements in this movie get used creatively. Every encounter and fight in this film is unique, and one of the things that most impressed me about Novocaine was how it avoids growing stale. Every blow seems to land differently than the one before, and every threat to Nathan and his friends threatens our sense of stability in a new way. Lastly, the sound work of Novocaine, most notably the gunshot sound effects accompanying this shifting tone, is just exceptional, unusually so. The sound is crisp, and yet somehow still manages to pack an impressive punch of bass. You don't just hear it: you feel it in your bones. It's a testament to what can happen if a studio puts a penny into hiring a skilled sound editor and getting them a decent pair of headphones.

I mean this wholeheartedly when I say that I walked out of the theater absolutely floored. Novocaine is one of the best action movies I've ever seen. It's wildly intelligent, effortlessly funny, and pinpointedly precise. And I don't think only critics will enjoy it: judging from the reactions of my fellow movie-goers in the theater, it should easily and emphatically work as a crowdpleaser too. While the critic in me marveled at the technical work and storytelling prowess of Novocaine, the dopamine addict in me was jumping for joy at how entirely untamed it was. Comparisons to Baby Driver are probably a bit inevitable, but for as much as I loved Edgar Wright's film, I'm going to shoot you straight and tell you that Novocaine is the superior flick, if just by a little bit. One moment, I was admiring a showcase of precision and the next, I was howling with laughter at what is probably the funniest movie I've seen in a long time. Just be aware that this movie is most definitely not for the kids. In terms of sexual content and language, it's pretty standard for an R rating, but I felt like my brain needed a bit of mental and emotional novocaine after seeing some of the violence on display. I'm not the kind of guy who grimaces at the sight of blood. In fact, the movie isn't even particularly bloody, relative to other movies. Yet its use of Nathan's condition to focus on the punishment that the human body can take made me wince more than once, not because it was simply terrible to see, but rather because it was a little too effective.

But even so, a lot of action movies tend to end up being, er, a pain to watch, at least from the perspective of a critic. Not Novocaine. This movie is an absolute masterstroke.

Novocaine - 10/10

Mark 5:24-34