The action-comedy is a classic, crowd-pleasing genre that has existed ever since the great Buster Keaton established the cinematic tradition of “fish out of water” protagonists getting extremely hurt on camera for our amusement. Comedy is inherently physical and, at its most successful, relatable. We all experience pain. Therefore, we can comprehend the inherent comedic value of slapstick. After the success of the bar-raising John Wick franchise, Hollywood has begun to overestimate just how many action-comedies audiences can handle (last month, Love Hurts opened to highly negative reviews and a mediocre box office). Despite how repetitive this genre has become, Novocaine still manages to move and thrill, thanks to the strength of its leads and a fresh genre twist.
Co-directed by Dan Berk and Robert Olsen, best known for their indie genre ventures Significant Other (2022) and Villains (2019), Novocaine is yet another mishmash of rom-com and action. However, this time, there’s an important wrinkle: our protagonist, Nathan Caine, played by Jack Quaid of The Boys on Prime Video and Companion (2025) fame, cannot feel pain. Diagnosed with CIPA (congenital insensitivity to pain, with analgesia, a real but rare medical disorder), Caine leads a sheltered and anti-social life until he goes on a date with the girl of his dreams, Sherry, played by Prey breakout star Amber Midthunder.
Courtesy of Paramount
When a bank robbery by Simon (Ray Nicholson) and his goons goes south, Sherry is kidnapped and held hostage, forcing Nate to use his rare condition as his greatest asset to save her. Although simple, the material is a perfect match for Jack Quaid and Amber Midthunder’s star power. Novocaine impresses in an area where many of its genre peers fail: the film’s opening moments care deeply about establishing the interior world Nate lives in due to his condition. Because of that sincerity, the audience also cares. Tennis balls curve out the edges of the tables in Nate’s home, he remarks about his abnormal childhood, and he even fears eating solid food to avoid biting his tongue off.
Nate’s date with Sherry challenges him to live a more fulfilling life, which gives clear emotional stakes before the movie hits full throttle. That’s not to say Novocaine has a slow start — rather, it just proves that, even in an adrenaline-filled action movie, there’s always time for developing likable characters. Jack Quaid and Amber Midthunder turn in equally wonderful performances here. The type of chemistry they share is difficult to fake, as their blushy awkwardness and oddball dynamic could easily fall apart in the hands of more conventional talent.
Fans of The Boys will be familiar with Jack Quaid’s nerdy charm and tendency to get showered with blood, as it’s a persona that he’s not afraid to lean into. But through Nate’s straight-faced indisposition to pain, Quaid gets to flex his comedic skills in a way that he hasn’t before on this kind of cinematic scale. No matter what kind of beatdown he’s receiving from men twice to thrice his size, his reaction is often hilariously unexpected and never matches the visceral secondhand pain the audience feels.
While fun, Novocaine never quite goes the extra mile to achieve greatness. Outside of how shockingly gory it is (even moreso than Osgood Perkins’ The Monkey), this action film doesn’t take many risks and the plot plays out exactly as one would expect. Midthunder thankfully joins the fight in the last act, yet it’s questionable why an actress known for a breakout action peformance didn’t get as hefty a role as her co-star. Also, the villains are never as well-characterized as the protagonists, which feels like a large waste of Ray Nicholson’s chaotic screen presence. Novocaine uses its premise well enough and fares better than Bullet Train or Violent Night, but it’s easy to wish it took things further.
Especially after numerous failed attempts from Hollywood to cash in on the action-comedy craze, Novocaine is a welcome surprise and a solid, bloody good time at the theater. Importantly, it isn’t trying to emulate the sleek and polished action John Wick popularized, opting instead for set pieces and fight scenes that are more scrappy, brutal, and visceral. Though there are obvious shortcomings, and it’s probably not destined to be a cult movie in the making, Novocaine succeeds in establishing its lead actors as emerging stars. It’s easy to get numb to the cacophony of cringe-inducing violence, but through pure charisma, Jack Quaid and Amber Midthunder still give us enough reason to care.
Novocaine hits theaters on March 14!
Release Date: March 14, 2025.
Directed by Dan Berk & Robert Olsen.
Written by Lars Jacobson.
Produced by Joby Harold, Tory Tunnell, Adam Friedlander, Drew Simon, & Julian Rosenberg.
Executive Producers: Lars Jacobson, Josh Adler, Matt Schwartz, & Sam Speiser.
Main Cast: Jack Quaid, Amber Midthunder, Ray Nicholson, Jacob Batalon, Betty Gabriel, & Matt Walsh.
Cinematographer: Jacques Jouffret.
Composers: Lorne Balfe & Andrew Kawczynski.
Production Companies: Infrared Pictures, Safehouse Pictures, & Circle Management + Production.
Distributor: Paramount Pictures.
Runtime: 110 minutes.
Rated R.
