Critic Reviews

A raucous, non-stop, full-throttle slapstick comedy that makes an episode of The Three Stooges seem like a production of Swan Lake.

The numerous fight scenes, which often lapse into extreme gore, are as amusing as they are exciting.

Between the humor and Quaid's performance, there's so much fun to be had here that it's easy to just sit back and enjoy the ride.

It’s a gory, bonkers action-comedy premise anchored by a set of strong performances and a surprisingly poignant meet-cute, making for a wildly memorable action outing.

Novocaine is a delightful and surprisingly relatable hoot. If too many over-stylized, gleefully immature action movies have been a particular pain in your ass lately, then consider Novocaine your analgesic.

Novocaine offers more depth than its gimmicky “man who feels no pain” premise may lead you to believe. This movie breathes new life into old ideas, with an original hero buoyed by the charm of Jack Quaid and a heroine who ably beats the damsel-in-distress allegations. Novocaine is smart, but not so self-aware that it’s likely to alienate anybody; sharp, but not without feeling.

Novocaine is packed full of inventive action set pieces that are alternately gruesome, goofy, and sometimes even both at once. It may not be for everyone, but it kind of feels like the gold standard for this very specific brand of action comedy.

Jack Quaid was born for a role like this. The actor’s unassuming cheerfulness provides the perfect comedic counterpoint to the film’s increasingly absurd gross-out action gags.

Directors Dan Berk and Robert Olsen take this dumb-clever, fake-movie-science idea and run with it as hard and as fast as they can in one straight direction, using Nate’s condition as an excuse for pure, unchecked mayhem.

Novocaine wins with violence and personality. It’s simply fun to hang out with Nate.