‘Novocaine’ Reviews: Does Action Comedy Have Critics Cringing In Pain?

Jack Quaid in Novocaine."
Paramount Pictures/Marcos Cruz
Novacaine — a new action comedy starring Jack Quaid, Amber Midthunder and Jacob Batalon — is new in theaters Are critics groaning or laughing at the pain-filled movie?
Rated R, Novocaine opens in theaters nationwide on Friday. The logline for Novocaine reads, “When the girl of his dreams is kidnapped, a man incapable of feeling physical pain turns his rare condition into an unexpected advantage in the fight to rescue her.”
Quaid (The Boys) plays Nate Caine in Novocaine, an assistant bank manager in San Diego who springs into action when three bank robbers dressed as Santa Claus rob his bank and take his girlfriend, Sherry (Midthunder, Prey) hostage.
ForbesTim Burton Docuseries Features Johnny Depp And Winona Ryder In First 2 Episodes (First Look)By Tim Lammers
Batalon (Spider-Man: No Way Home) stars as Roscoe, Nate’s video game-playing partner, while Ray Nicholson (Smile 2) plays Simon, the mastermind behind the bank heist.
Directed by Dan Berk and Robert Olsen, Novocaine also stars Betty Gabriel, Matt Walsh, Lou Beatty Jr., Van Hengst and Conrad Kemp.
As of Thursday, Rotten Tomatoes critics have collectively given Novocaine an 80% “fresh” rating based on 94 reviews. The RT Critics Consensus for the film reads, “Getting an adrenaline shot from Jack Quaid and Amber Midthunder's considerable charm while finding increasingly demented ways to utilize its concept, Novocaine is the opposite of a pain to watch.”