Novocaine

To start with, any movie in which Helena Bonham Carter gets naked is a good thing.

This is a weird weird movie, but good pacing and casting saves it. A more disciplined director could have turned it into a cult classic.

Steve Martin is convincing in a challenging part. He is a fine actor.He brings just enough comedy so the movie doesn't descend into the land that light forgot. This edge gives the film strange believability.

Laura Dern is also exquisite walking a fine line to achieve a balance between farce and drama. Her character, blondness and 'hard body' look contrasted effectively with HBC's petite, auburn wickedness.

At the end, I wanted to watch it again to appreciate the fine points I missed the first time through.

I would describe it as a darker " The Whole Nine Yards".

Steve Martin has either grown more talented and brilliant with age or we are now having more opportunities to witness this. His subtleness and incredible face are alluring. The entire cast deserves kudos for a great ensemble. On the other hand, the writing and directing do not.

Unlike the cast members who were top rate, the direction was simplistic, not in a minimalist fashion, but in a puerile attempt: first this happens, then that, now everyone act vaudevillian. The direction appeared to be confused between stage and film. The writing was weak with annoying one liners and non-clever phrases. Not enough credit was given to the intellect of the audience and too much was spelled out for us. None the less, I managed to finish the film and was rewarded with a unique and sweet ending.

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.

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)