Movies whose sole purpose is just to entertain us tend to be the best movies. Why, because they’re pure escapism and don’t require us to really think or reflect on some deep allegory that changes our perspective. I’m not saying those kinds of movies aren’t good or even necessary, but sometimes we just want to escape from reality and be entertained. That’s why Novocaine starring Jack Quaid is the purest form of escapism. I love this movie more than I should. It’s not going to win any awards and maybe compared to other films it’s not a great film, but its a lot of fun and I will definitely watch it again. It’s a movie filled with non-stop action and plenty of moments that will make you cringe, but also makes you laugh all the way to the end.
Jack Quaid plays a bank manager who suffers from CIPA, he can’t feel pain and doesn’t register when he’s actually hurt and because of this, inherited the nickname “Novocaine.” He finally meets the girl of his dreams and then she’s taken hostage during a bank robbery. He can’t help but play the hero and go after her while getting beat up, stabbed, and even shot. So imagine the character who doesn’t feel pain taking on criminals who can beat him to a pulp and is probably almost dead, but still keeps “trucking” in an attempt to rescue her. That’s when the action starts. Like I said there are plenty of cringe-worthy moments, but also a lot of hilarious moments as Jack Quaid’s character plays the hapless hero who can’t be hurt. There’s nothing special about the plot, but you root for this character despite getting himself into all sorts of situations and that’s what makes this movie fun to watch.
The movie is also good because you get really good performances. I’ve never thought of Jack Quaid as leading man material. He is much more of a sidekick as he demonstrates that perfectly in the show The Boys on Amazon Prime, but he is the hero in this movie that is easy to root for. Now, I won’t spoil the movie because you should experience everything that happens to the character without any spoilers. The movie isn’t too long and the pacing is great so you won’t get bored unlike movies that suffer from pacing problems.
The only problems with this movie in my opinion, you don’t get enough backstory with the characters. While it’s easy to root for the main character, there isn’t any real connection to the characters because we don’t get a chance to get to know that. This movie relies solely on comedic action to entertain us and that’s not a bad thing it doesn’t make the film as good as it could be. However, this movie isn’t a drama, it’s an action-comedy movie that relies on the best parts of the movie to make it worth watching. My complaints about the movie are minor because even though there’s not much of the plot and we as an audience may want to know more all these characters backstory, it isn’t necessary to keep us entertained. Novocaine is a pure popcorn flick and worth the price of a movie ticket. This movie doesn’t disappoint when it comes to pure entertainment and Jack Quaid proves that he can be a likable leading man just like his dad Dennis Quaid. Honestly, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the film because there are so many films that come out where we don’t really think about it and therefore no anticipation when it comes to that movie, we solely just go in and hope to be entertained. However, this will be one of the surprise hits of 2025.
