Novocaine ★★½

GREAT idea; average execution.

That sums up the comic thriller Novocaine starring Jack Quaid (son of Dennis) as a man who cannot feel pain.

The film starts promisingly with mild-mannered, slightly nerdy bank teller Nate becoming enamoured from afar by new employee Sherry.

Eventually the pair start getting together and, in one of the film’s best scenes, Sherry convinces Nate to put aside his fear of biting through his own tongue without realising,  so he can enjoy a piece of cherry pie for the first time in his life.

Suddenly both the story and the tone of the film take a U-turn when a robbery at the bank goes awry and Sherry is taken hostage by the thieves.

Fuelled by love Nate transcends his fears to set off after the bad guys and rescue Sherry without fear of his life.

Naturally the set-up leads to humorous action sequences, but unfortunately they become repetitive after the tenth one.

Also, constant suspension of disbelief is required as the damage done to Nate’s body never seems to stop him; so, rather than just not feeling pain, it also doesn’t seem to have any physical impact on his body.

Quaid is charismatic as always, even though he constantly plays basically the same character, and Sherry is played well by Amber Midthunder who first came to the attention in the 2022 Predator franchise entry Prey.

Not bad, but I prefer the 2018 Australian action thriller Upgrade about a guy who is paralysed and has a chip inserted that ‘upgrades’ his body.

Watched at the cinema.