Novocaine (2025) Dir: Dan Berk & Robert Olsen
- Ridley Coote
- Apr 11
- 2 min read
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The early months of 2025 have not been stellar ones for cinema thus far, but this action comedy, directed by Dan Berk and Robert Olsen, appealed to me. I didn't expect a world-beater by any means, but I did expect a good time. The trailers I saw certainly indicated that I would be in for some fun. Regardless, I went into the cinema with my hopes relatively high.
The action was as gruesome as I had anticipated, and gruesome really was the way to describe it. For what it's worth, it was also pretty fun in its absurdity. The practical elements of the film, inevitably, looked much better than the various bits of CGI used. That's not to say that the CGI looked inherently bad, but it certainly wasn't as strong as the more tangible props and such.
The story was ridiculous, for lack of a better word. There was a lot of dodgy writing, mostly in the second half, but not exclusively. So much of the plot relied on convenience or unrealistic character behaviours, especially from the police characters. The comedy aspects saved this film from being genuinely poor. On the contrary, it made it quite enjoyable.
I thought that Jack Quaid turned in a pretty good performance in this leading role. He was quite funny, for the most part, and definitely seemed committed to making the most of this role. The quips were maybe a little much sometimes, but that's as much a writing issue as his.
Opposite him, Amber Midthunder did an equally solid job, albeit she had one or two slightly dodgy moments in the middle portion of the film. I did enjoy the way she displayed the more romantic elements of her character - she honestly came across very endearingly.
Ray Nicholson's antagonist wasn't particularly well written, but I thought his actual acting was fairly good, for the most part. His character was very generic, but Nicholson did what he could to make something of it. Jacob Batalon, Betty Gabriel, and Matt Walsh also deserved at least a mention too. Batalon essentially played his character in Spider-Man, which was both good and bad, whilst Gabriel and Walsh had surprisingly good chemistry.
Overall, I found this to be an entertaining but definitely flawed action comedy. It makes for good viewing as a popcorn flick, but anyone hoping for something a little more refined may not like it so much. I'd be surprised if this made it into my top ten films of the year come December, but I would still say it was worth my checking it out, at least.
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