Novocaine review: Jack Quaid crushes as an unlikely action hero who cant feel pain

You'll never have more fun watching someone get hurt.

Over the last few years, Novocaine star Jack Quaid has carved himself a niche by playing the everyman archetype with a genre twist.

In The Boys, he's a nobody thrust into a world of superheroes. In Star Trek: Lower Decks, he's an ambitious worker bee on a starship. And in 2025's Companion, he's a sinister (yet all too familiar) "nice guy" with a robot girlfriend.

Quaid's leading role in Novocaine feels like a natural continuation of these genre-bent everymen. He plays Nathan Caine, a mild-mannered assistant bank manager who has congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis (CIPA), a genetic disorder that impacts his nervous system to the point that he can't feel pain or temperature.

Usually, Nathan's CIPA causes everyday annoyances that he takes careful steps to manage. He can't eat solid food for fear of biting his tongue off, so he blends it. He can't feel pressure in his bladder, so he sets timers for bathroom breaks. But when his crush Sherry (Amber Midthunder) is taken hostage, he unleashes his CIPA as a superpower, fighting his way through stabs, gunshot wounds, and more to get to her. The ensuing ride is the perfect showcase for Quaid's charms, as he elevates a serviceable action comedy to a damn great time.

What's Novocaine about?

The first act of Novocaine sees Quaid in prime "regular guy" mode. As Nathan, he wakes up, goes about his morning routine, heads to the bank, and crushes on bank teller Sherry from afar. After a coffee spill meet-cute, Sherry invites him out to lunch, then to an art gallery opening. They open up to each other about things they hide from the world: He tells her about how his CIPA led to him being a punching bag at school and causes him to withdraw from social gatherings. She tells him about her self-harm and her upbringing in a troubled foster home. The night culminates in a tender hookup that has Nathan hearing wedding bells.

At face value, this opening sequence is just a run-of-the-mill first date, one that can't hold a candle to the rom-com greats. But Quaid's game combination of daffiness and vulnerability lends a pleasant sweetness to Nathan's conversations with Sherry. As Sherry, Midthunder is saddled more with a manic pixie dream girl-type role — look, she encourages him to eat his first bite of pie! — but don't worry. Novocaine features its fair share of twists that allow Midthunder to showcase more of the star power she displayed in 2022's Prey.

Mashable Top Stories

Speaking of star power, Quaid's kicks into high gear when Nathan begins his quest to take down the trio of bank robbers who kidnap Sherry. Once again, he's the everyman stuck in a high-stakes situation. He's never shot a gun, and he doesn't really know how to fight, resulting in some hysterical scenes in which a hapless Nathan bumbles through intimidating his adversaries. He can't bluff to save his life, but my goodness, does he commit.

Crucially, though, Nathan also doesn't know how to feel pain, and that proves to be the secret sauce Novocaine needs.

Jack Quaid brings humor to Novocaine's fun fights.

Turns out all you need to do to freshen up some tried-and-true fight scene tropes is to take away one fighter's ability to feel pain. Take Novocaine's restaurant kitchen fight scene, Nathan's first real one-on-one test. Kitchen fights are an action movie mainstay. Recent blockbusters like 2023's John Wick 4 and 2024's Monkey Man delivered scorching kitchen-set battles, and of course, who can top the kitchen showdown in The Raid 2?

But Novocaine manages to find its own kitchen fight magic by removing Nathan's pain from the equation. Now, you've got someone who's unafraid to reach into a vat of boiling oil or use a red-hot skillet as a weapon. Nathan may not be a physical match for his opponent, but his ability to withstand agony levels the playing field.

Directors Robert Olsen and Dan Berk stay trained on Nathan for much of the fight, highlighting Quaid's aptitude for physical comedy and every little surprised expression that crosses his face as he realizes just how much his CIPA can benefit him in this life-or-death situation.

Thanks to that realization, Nathan finds consistently more inventive ways to take down his foes, no matter the physical damage they do to him. The disconnect between his normal guy vibes and his gnarly appearance makes for some of Novocaine's best comedy. Case in point: Nathan casually slicing his arm open in order to remove a bullet. Quaid keeps talking through it like everything is normal, but the blood oozing from his arm suggests otherwise.

That's only the tip of Novocaine's gnarly iceberg, which puts Nathan's body through the ringer, even if he may stay chipper for quite a bit of it. And while I don't actively wish harm on movie protagonists, I will say that thanks to Quaid, it's never been more fun watching someone get hurt.

Novocaine hits theaters March 14.

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