2 min to read
Novocaine
How good is Jack Quaid as an action hero?
The Good: What makes this movie stand out and be different than most other action films is that the action keeps going no matter what. Due to Nathan Canie’s (Jack Quaid’s character’s) disease, he can’t feel pain. During most traditional action sequences, when someone gets tired or hurt, the action tends to slow down, as the characters are trying to recover from the action. Because Nathan Caine can’t feel the pain, he just keeps going and going, not knowing when to stop, so he only stops when his body literally gives up. This is so unique for an action film, it really kept me engaged in the fight sequences. In addition, I also loved how some of the body throws had a rag doll-like effect, making the action at times be a little more comedic than serious.
As for the comedy in the movie, it lands almost every time. Most of the jokes are said by Jack Quaid and are very situational. The comments he says are unintentionally funny, as if they were the words you would hear someone say if they couldn’t feel pain and they were getting “hurt.” This levity in scenes really enabled the movie to have a consistent tone throughout.
Like most films, there is a standout performance in this movie – Jack Quaid. He is just phenomenal in this role. He starts of perfectly playing this awkward guy who is always worried about his disease, and then he transforms over the movie to a guy who embraces his “superpower” of a disease to start saving the girl he loves. There aren’t a lot of actors who could have pulled off what he did, so he definitely deserves credit for his work in this movie.
The Meh: Around a third of the way through the movie there is a pretty major plot twist that occurs. This twist is very intriguing and changes the way you interpret the movie, but this twist should have taken place around 2/3 through the movie. Having the twist be earlier diluted the twist’s overall impact on the film and made certain portions of the film be a little disinteresting at times.
What doesn’t help this twist was the fact the movie was trying to be both a romance movie and a hard action film. Having the film need to focus on both aspects of the film made automatically gives the film as a disservice, as the writers definitely prioritized one part of the movie over the other (action over the romance).
Overall: My wife and I both had a lot of fun with this. The performances of Jack Quaid and the other supporting cast were great, and with their chemistry they were able to bring very well timed humor at times you would least expect. Despite all the strengths of the movie, the blending of the hard action and romance didn’t work perfectly. If you’re a fan of R-rated action films, this should be a must watch. Just know when there is an injury shown on screen they don’t cut away.
Rating: 4/5 (very close to a 4.5/5)
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