Novocaine

Novocaine is a very strange film. It doesn't make up its mind whether it's a take off on a genre or is it playing straight. That said, the story has a lot of laughs and it was a complete surprise given the negative comments one had heard about this film. David Watkins' script and direction give this film a different look of what Hollywood is giving us lately. Steve Martin is a very difficult actor to cast and he has to have the right vehicle and direction in order to excel, as he does here. Sometimes Mr. Martin comes across rather shallow in some of his screen portrayals, but as the dentist at the center of this comedy, he is at the top of his craft. Laura Dern is just perfect in her role. She keeps getting better all the time, whether it's comedy, as it is here, or her other film this year, Focus. She's an actress who doesn't repeat herself. She's a true original. Helena Bonham-Carter is perfect as the junkie that appears in Steve Martin's life. Quite a change for her image, better known for her appearances in serious films. This must have been quite a turn around for this actress, better remembered for her work in serious English drama. The most remarkable scenes are those of the great Kevin Bacon as an actor tailing David Keith in preparation for an upcoming police film. He is hilarious as the method actor in search of ways to interpret the real life detective in the movies.

All in all, this is a very satisfying comedy.

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.

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 is believable as a dentist who sees his life spiraling out of control after a series of cascading lies sets him up as a murder suspect. What is not believable is the script, which seems to overlook common sense. Cops that fall asleep while guarding a suspect, and worse yet handcuffing a suspect to a flimsy bench in the court house. After an intriguing set up, everything has less and less logic. The proverbial happy ending is totally unbelievable, as is the supposed motivation for the entire storyline. If you want to see a pretty good Steve Martin performance and can overlook Novocaine's many flaws, it is definitely watchable. - MERK

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.