Novocaine

I hesitate to call "Novocaine" a film noir, for those knowledgeable cinema buffs out there may harass me and tell me film noir is usually set in the forties, and so on and so forth. But the core of film noir is really the essential idea of the Everyman thrust into incomprehensible situations, not aware of what is happening, why, or how to stop it. Film noirs usually show our hero caught up in framed murder. In "Novocaine," a dentist is thrust into a world of lies, deceit, sex, drugs, and murder. And if that doesn't tickle your fear, then maybe the fact that the dentist is Steve Martin will.

Film noirs are a tricky thing to make correctly. They can fail very easily, such as the incredibly disappointing "D.O.A." They can stumble, mess up. When the rare "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" comes along, it is time to rejoice. I must admit that when I went to see "Novocaine" with Steve Martin, I did not expect very much. I had already heard bad news about it, seen little previews for it, and generally expected it to be a bad movie. Steve Martin in a film noir about a funny dentist? Fortunately, I instantly realized I had made a mistake.

Our tale begins with Dr. Frank Sangster, a mild-mannered dentist (isn't that how it always is in film noirs?) with a fiancé/co-worker, Jean (Laura Dern), and a generally nice, peaceful little world. But that world is shaken when a sleazy, lusty woman named Susan Ivey (Helena Bonham Carter) walks through the doors. She wants Novocaine, but Frank doesn't know this. After a night of passion in the dentist's chair, Frank agrees to give her Novocaine for pain she is having. But the next day, when he thinks he may have gotten away with everything, he finds out that Susan has increased the amount on the prescription he gave her from about 1 to 100, or something like that. Soon Frank is being checked out by the Three-Letter Government Corporations, and, unable to come up with excuses for the missing Novocaine, tries to find Susan and confront her about it. Before long he is caught up in a web of deceit, murder, perjury, all the stuff I said before.

"Novocaine" is a sweet ball of darkness, laughs and film noir. It numbs you, leaving you breathless. It is as if the film itself is "Novocaine." It isn't a terrific comedy, or a terrific film noir, but it is a heck of a lot better than you have probably been led to believe. Steve Martin is about the last person you'd expect to see in a film like this, but my favorite comedian pulls it off. His character, Frank, has no idea what is going on. He isn't experienced in the world of greed, lust and so on and so forth like Susan is--he is new to it, stumbling forward unsure of where to go next. As situations catch up with him, he runs farther, searching the darkness, trying to find answers.

This is a fun movie to watch, the kind of movie I've been looking for. The beginning credits, which show X-rays of the human mouth, set the tone for the film--it is a dark movie, and leaves you feeling dirty throughout. It is the type of movie where you want to sit back, shake your head and make ticking sounds with your mouth. It frustrates you, it leads the characters into wrong decision, and you want to yell at the screen to stop them from doing what they're doing. But when the dirty feeling of the film kicks in, the small laughs along the way provide a balance to the darkness. "Novocaine" is a very well-done film noir. When the credits start rolling, you will feel surges of anger, frustration, laughter and sadness, and then the numbness will kick in on the ride home, and you'll feel like you've just been given a dose of Novocaine.

This was a good movie, but there were several plot holes you could drive a truck through. I found myself saying "No one would really do that" over and over again. It seemed as though the director wanted to do a straight suspense film, and Steve Martin wanted to do a screwball comedy, and in the end, it's neither one. The characters are well played, and Helena Bonham Carter did an especially good job with a big departure from her previous roles as refined British noble women. At times, the actors got very close to being caricatures instead of characters. All in all, an enjoyable film if you aren't expecting the quality of "The Spanish Prisoner", which I think is still Steve Martin's best film ever.

OK, so I have to give this movie points for originality. How many films involve a dentist protagonist? I watched the featurette on the DVD and director David Atkins explained that he wanted to throw a curve ball at the audience by having Steve Martin play the main character in a dark comedy--since audiences are probably expecting something much broader. I didn't get any laughs out of this film; just some mild chuckles. But whether it's a dark comedy or a mystery-thriller, it doesn't quite gel. And ultimately, the film left a bad taste in my mouth--no pun intended. It's watchable, and at times quite intriguing, but it's definitely not a memorable film that I would watch on repeat viewings.

The cast is spirited. Steve Martin never ceases to please, whether he's playing a broad comic role or the straight man. Here, he plays more of the latter. But I wasn't surprised he was able to pull it off. If anybody has seen Lawrence Kasdan's "Grand Canyon," you know Steve is a versatile actor who can easily pull off a serious role. This isn't his first time playing the straight man. Laura Dern is amusing as Steve's neurotic, obsessive-compulsive, karate-kicking wife. Helena Bonham Carter is sassy and sexy, a totally convincing femme fetale. Elias Koteas has some nice moments as Steve's black-sheep brother. And last but not least, Kevin Bacon has an amusing unbilled cameo as an actor researching murder cases for his upcoming movie.

Danny Elfman's opening theme is wonderfully haunting. There are certain elements of "Novocaine" that I liked, it does have its moments (the twist ending totally caught me by surprise!!), but it just doesn't come together.

My score: 6 (out of 10)

Let's get something clear real quick - this is NOT a comedy. Don't try to watch it as a comedy, don't try to laugh at things that are not supposed to be funny, and don't complain if you didn't laugh a lot.

Now, I like to see an actor take a chance and do something out of his/her comfort zone. I like to see an actor expand his/her range, explore other genres, flex their actual acting muscles once in a while. And, I like to see an actor want to do a script that might not score them points either in the box office or with critics, so long as they feel they can bring something to a role. (Tom Hanks is the best example of this; Michael Keaton is close behind, and even Bruce Willis falls into this category, in my humble opinion).

That said, this film is fairly good. A pretty tame dentist is drawn into a downward-spiralling vortex of sex, drugs and murder. He is clearly over his head as his world crumbles down around him, and he doesn't suddenly become an action hero at all.

This movie has some classic femme fatale elements but does not pursue that vehicle to the common extreme. However, it also captures some film noir ideas - the first-person narrative, the slippery-slope downwards, the protagonist who just can't stop himself from falling under the spell of the vamp who's bad news from the word "go"...

It's not Double Indemnity or Sunset Blvd, but hey, for what it is, it was somewhat engaging.

Most stars have made a film they regret. I fear this will be the one for Steve Martin, Laura Dern & Helena Bonham Carter. Martin stars as a popular dentist, engaged to his office manager (Dern). One evening when he's alone in the office a mysterious young woman (Carter) comes in and convinces him to give her a prescription for pain killers, promising to come back for treatment the next morning. This one mistake of his sets off a series of intrigues and doublecrosses with a satisfying ending. So why am I so disappointed in the movie? For one thing, the story has holes that no amount of dental work can fill. And the movie is filled with gratuitously painful-to-watch scenes of dental work... starting right from the beginning. This is definitely not a movie to eat popcorn by and, in spite of the satisfying ending, everyone at my screening left the theater feeling sickened and extremely disappointed in Steve Martin.