action, Amber Midthunder, Betty Gabriel, comedy, Conrad Kemp, Craig Jackson, Dan Berk, Evan Hengst, Jack Quaid, Jacob Batalon, Keeno Lee Hector, Lou Beatty Jr., Matt Walsh, movies, Novocaine, Ray Nicholson, reviews, Robert Olsen, San Diego
March 8, 2025
by Carla Hay
“Novocaine” (2025)
Directed by Dan Berk and Robert Olsen
Culture Representation: Taking place in San Diego, the action film “Novocaine” features a predominantly white cast of characters (with a few African Americans and Asians and one Native American) representing the working-class and middle-class.
Culture Clash: An assistant bank manager, who has a rare medical condition where he cannot feel pain, turns into a vigilante who goes on a dangerous mission to rescue his co-worker/love interest, who was kidnapped by bank robbers.
Culture Audience: “Novocaine” will appeal mainly to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners and action movies where a “common man” turns into a brave vigilante.
The likable action comedy “Novocaine” is anything but numbing. Jack Quaid delivers a knockout performance as a mild-mannered man, who can’t feel pain and who turns into a vigilante to save a kidnapped love interest. The movie’s breezy comedy is adeptly blended with its cartoonish violence.
Directed by Darn Berk and Robert Olsen and written by Lars Jacobson, “Novocaine” excels because of its talented cast, adrenaline-packed stunts and an uncomplicated story that doesn’t take itself too seriously. As ridiculous as many of the fight scenarios are, the characters in the movie remain believable, thanks to skilled acting from the “Novocaine” cast members.
In “Novocaine,” Quaid plays 30-year-old Nathan “Nate” Caine, a socially awkward nerd who works as an assistant manager at San Diego Trust Credit Union, a bank in San Diego. (“Novocaine” was actually filmed in Cape Town, South Africa.) It’s later revealed in the movie that when he was a student, people at Nate’s school gave Nate the unflattering nickname Novocaine because he was born with a rare medical condition that makes him immune to pain, much like the drug novocaine is used as a way to numb pain. Nate also can’t feel changes in temperature.
Because of this medical condition, Nate’s overprotective parents (who are now deceased) raised him to be a very sheltered child. For years, Nate was told that he couldn’t eat solid food, in order to prevent him from accidentally biting his tongue off while eating. He was also taught to stay indoors as much as possible, which has caused Nate to be a loner as an adult.
At home, Jacob spends most of his free time playing online video games. His closest “friend” is someone he hasn’t met in person yet: another avid online video gamer named Roscoe (played by Jacob Batalon), who is as confident as Nate is insecure. Nate also has a friendly acquaintance (in person) with a local hardware store owner named Earl (played by Lou Beatty Jr.), an elderly man who gets help from Nate when Earl’s store is close to getting out of business.
Most of the story takes place during the late December holiday season. Nate is feeling lonely because he has no family members or friends to be with for the holidays. Because of his extremely sheltered upbringing, Nate is inexperienced in dating. Fairly early on in the movie, it becomes obvious that Nate is a virgin who’s never had a steady girlfriend.
That doesn’t mean that Nate is asexual. He’s attracted to a co-worker named Sherry (played by Amber Midthunder), who works as a bank teller at San Diego Trust Credit Union. Sherry, who is an aspiring painter artist, knows that Nate has a crush on her, so she’s the one who approaches him and asks him out on a date.
Nate and Sherry’s first date is at local diner, where Nate tells Sherry about his medical condition. Sherry convinces Nate to eat some of the pie that she has ordered. Nate overcomes his fear of eating solid food, eats some of the pie, and finds out to his delight that the pie tastes great, and nothing bad happened to him when he ate the pie.
This pie experience is the icebreaker that brings Sherry and Nate closer together on this date. Sherry (who is originally from Tucson, Arizona) opens up to Nate about her troubled past: She spent much of her childhood in foster homes until she was adopted into an abusive home. Amber tells Nate up front that she’s in therapy. It’s later revealed that Amber is in recovery for being a self-harming cutter.
Nate and Sherry continue their date at a local bar, where an unnamed bully (played by Tristan de Beer) from Nate’s past approaches Nate and teases him about being nicknamed Novocaine. Nate is embarrassed but tries not to let it show to Sherry. When the bully starts to flirt with Sherry, something happens that proves Sherry is not interested in this jerk. Sherry assertively tells Nate that she wants to spend the night with Nate.
The day after their sleepover date is Christmas Eve. Sherry and Nate (who has already fallen hard for Sherry) both have to work that day, which turns into a nightmare. Three armed bank robbers, who are all disguised as Santa Claus, storm into the bank. They don’t just want the cash that’s in the registers were the bank tellers are. The robbers want whatever is in the bank vault that’s locked in the back.
The leader of the robbers is Simon (played by Ray Nicholson), a sadistic psychopath who doesn’t hesitate to shoot and kill. Simon’s accomplices are two brothers: Andre (played by Conrad Kemp) and Ben (played by Evan Hengst), who is the younger brother. Ben is the lookout and getaway driver.
Things go horribly wrong during the robbery. Bank manager Nigel (played by Craig Jackson) sees what Simon’s face looks like without the disguise. And you can easily guess what happens to Nigel. Nate is then forced to open the bank vault because he’s the only other person in the bank who knows how to unlock the vault.
Police arrive, and there’s a massive shootout that leaves several people wounded and a few people dead. Before the robbers make their getaway, they take Sherry as a hostage. Nate impulsively takes the gun and police car of a wounded cop (played by Keeno Lee Hector), so that Nate can chase after the kidnappers/robbers because he wants to rescue Sherry. Nate thinks that the police won’t act fast enough.
The two police detectives in charge of the investigation are Barbara Mincy (played by Betty Gabriel) and her cop partner Detective Coltraine (played by Matt Walsh), who soon arrive at this crime scene. Barbara immediately suspects that Nate is in cahoots with the kidnappers/robbers. Detective Coltraine is a little more willing to give Nate the benefit of the doubt.
The rest of “Novocaine” is about Nate haphazard rescue attempt, as Nate is being hunted by police. The movie gets repetitive in showing how many painful injuries that Nate sustains, but the scenes have so much playfully intense energy, these scenes don’t really drag. Each injury sems to make Nate emotionally stronger, if not more confident, as he shows an unrelenting determination to save the person he believes could be the love of his life.
“Novocaine” has above-average stunt work and makeup design (for the fight injuries) that give some realistic-looking aspects of an intentionally absurd film. Much of the comedy comes from Nate getting himself in situations where he has no idea what he’s doing, but he has to make quick-thinking decisions along the way. Some of these decisions turn out to be mistakes, so Nate has to find a way to get out of any mess that he created.
The appeal of “Novocaine” is centered mainly on Quaid’s dynamic performance as Nate, who evolves from being timid to being courageous, while still remaining a “nice guy.” “Novocaine” has a lot of brutal violence, but the heart of the movie is really mushy sentimentality about the extremes that people will go to for love. Somehow, that mushiness works well because it’s wrapped up in a movie that expertly mixes engaging action with charismatic comedy.
Paramount Pictures will release “Novocaine” in U.S. cinemas on March 14, 2025, with sneak previews on March 3 and March 8, 2025.