“Novocaine” Review: Jack Quaid in weight -free comedy

The non-recognizing action ROM-COM “novocaine” makes a convincing argument that his leadership, Jack Quaid, He can do everything: he hates the girl, shoots the goon and tickling the audience. The film itself has a more difficult time, screwing and the three genres so painful that it tends to fit. Directed by Dan Berk and Robert Olsen From a Lars Jacobson scenario, this is an assistant manager of the bank in San Diego, called Nathan Cane (Quaid), with congenital insensitivity to pain – a rare and real condition in which a person cannot feel cuts, burns, bruises and broken bones. All the wounds above (and more) happen to Nathan after his job Crush Sherry (Amber Midthunder) is abducted by the bandits. It has no gymnastics rat that hits the bottom; He is simply willing to take any punishment to bring it back.

How serious should we take this premise? Very, according to The Grisly Blood Stripers, the dramatic score with the ham and panic in Midthunder’s eyes. Also, at all serious, he rises from the comic relief that is accidentally rooted on the plot, such as a policeman played by Matt Walsh Who understands that San Diego has gone to seed since thenchargers and Clippers he betrayed us. “

Of the torments of torments, the hardest challenge is to remove you in tone. He is charming while he is crushed Machaca. “It’s okay!” He insists, while a knife plunges his hand. “Good to leave!” He says, sculpting a bullet from his arm with a box cutter. Our vitier crushs come only from the sound design, which gives a horrible squelch to a medieval sandstone behind Nathan. (“Why?” Nathan sighs with exasperation, as if they were just blocked in red light.)

The slapstick works, especially when Quaid makes a chaplin-eique shuffle with an arrow coming out of his thigh. But what works best is the opening act, an Indie romantic, but sincere, which has only a few scenes to convince us that Nathan’s chemistry with Sherry deserves to get through a meat grinder. Nathan looks like a typical sad bag – Drab apartment, Droopy corporate wear, anxious brittle of the forehead – with the twist that was raised to be terrified of everything, from shower to accidental chewing. (Kara Lindstrom production designer sets a life story, sticking to tennis balls on every sharp corner of its furniture. However, he is completely caught outside the guard when the office box warms him with coffee (without biggie) and then apologizes to make him noon (Yikes).

Sherry comes so strong, we want to check it for the chronic Hollywood disease: Manic Pixie Dreamgirl Syndrome. To the credit of the scenario and the convincing zeal of Midthunder, Sherry has his own reasons to make him work, including the need to stay for the weak. And we have a question we hope can answer: If Nathan can’t feel pain, how can you feel pleasure? When Sherry makes him take his first solid food bite, Quaid does for the cherry pie, which once did his real life meg Ryan make for the Pastrami sandwich. His eyes waved in ecstasy. He’s in love.

Even knowing that this ridiculous configuration of charming will take a sharp appearance in the blood and guts, the dramatic tonal change still hits us like a head shot. Once a trio of robbers (Ray Nicholson, Conrad Kemp and Evan Hengst) relies on Nathan and Sherry’s bench and kills four people quickly, the movie has no moments to go crazy, apart from Nathan, which can be revealed so that he can continue. The Midthunder character is plundered in particular. As well can be John Wick’s puppy.

The Berk and Olsen Co-Reregs spend the rest of the movie trying to make a spiritual continuation of Jason Statham ”Crank“,” Whackadoo’s final action about an assassin who pumps to stay alive (best than further “,”CRANK 2: High voltage“).
Quaid does not have Statham’s biceps, but for my money, he doesn’t need them. It has the perfect appearance for this movie. Inclined and rinsed in unusual places, it is half, half. Intelligently, choreography of the stuntman does not position his protagonist as a super fighter. Guards do not come from his abilities, but from what he is willing to do to win: Grind Glass in his fists, grab a cast iron, without mitts, sink his right hand in a deep fryer until he blisters like a samosa. There is an extended creaking jam when, after confiscated and fired a boiling weapon, it does not happen to throw it. From a visual point of view, violence is shot in sick people. The cartoon horse would have taken a harder laugh.

The camera is thrown into the high jins, slamming back and forth into the same cadence with Nathan’s confusion. But it is more fun to seek to have abuse than to remove it. When this girlfriend continues the attack, the effect is like looking at a rabbit with rabies. You just think that someone should take the poor doctor to the doctor. )

This is why the best fighting scene involves psychological struggle. A tied Nathan tricks his horse to give him extra time to figure out an escape, going full Rabbit, Pretend the killer to take torture quickly. “Not the pliers – please, not the pliers,” he advocates. Let me try this alone. Do not put quaid in a romantic comedy – please, not an adequate romantic comedy.