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Novocaine
Artisan Entertainment


8.5

based on 27 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 4 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

MPAA RATING: R for violence, sexuality, language and drug content

Starring Steve Martin, Helena Bonham Carter, Laura Dern, Elias Koteas, and Scott Caan

An edgy, unpredictable crime thriller, starring Steve Martin as a prosperous dentist whose well-ordered existence is thrown into turmoil when an alluring new patient draws him into a seedy underworld of sex, drugs and murder. (Artisan Entertainment)

GENRE(S):	Suspense/Thriller
WRITTEN BY:	David Atkins (also story) Paul Felopulos (story)
DIRECTED BY:	David Atkins
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: April 23, 2002 Video: April 23, 2002 Theatrical: November 16, 2001
RUNNING TIME:	95 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Boston Globe Jay Carr

Quite apart from wringing the last molecule of vividness from his freewheeling roster of loose cannons, he brings to his direction of Martin a finesse shared by only a few of the directors who have worked with the comedian-actor.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

A funny and constantly surprising exercise in comic tension.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

Martin's most adventurous film in many years, may be next best thing to a quick shot of nitrous oxide.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

A screwball film noir with a lot of medium laughs and a few great big ones,

Los Angeles Times John Anderson

Martin is marvelous; through sheer charisma, he takes over certain scenes as if no one else is there.

Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach

Novocaine is neither funny enough to be a comedy, nor dark enough to be a true film noir. Like the drug of the title, it just kind of leaves you numb and anxious to taste the good stuff once again.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

One moment it's farcical comedy, the next it's gruesome melodrama. The movie never finds the right tone.

New Times (L.A.) Bill Gallo

Atkins has trouble keeping the tension high and the jokes rolling. Halfway through he begins tripping over the noir genre's dark rules, and in the end he veers off into a haze of romantic redemption that Billy Wilder and Nicholas Ray would have scoffed at.

Film Threat Ellen Marshall

There are a few priceless moments, like Dr. Sangster trying to work on a patient, while removing a hot pink pair of panties from a nearby chair, and the discovery of a stuffed bunny complete with a full set of dentures on his fiance's bed.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

It's too bad the movie's intriguing effect wears off (so to speak) about two-thirds through.

The New York Times Dana Stevens

Nothing is particularly believable here, but there are still a few moments of silly, sinister fun.

LA Weekly Hazel-Dawn Dumpert

If Novocaine fulfilled the promise of its premise and cast, it could be great. As it is, the film is sabotaged by writer-director David Atkins' failure to set a consistent tone and follow through.

Chicago Tribune Mark Caro

The absurd meets the violent meets the droll, and we just watch from the outside, never having been drawn in by anything resembling believable feelings or behavior.

Portland Oregonian Kim Morgan

The film is weighed down by the decision of director David Atkins to throw too much into the mix. The result is a serious problem of consistency.

Village Voice Jessica Winter

Martin seems uncomfortable and oddly waxen (the orange Al Gore makeup doesn't help), injecting Frank with neither restless anger nor wry humor.

USA Today Claudia Puig

With Bonham Carter's been-there, done-that performance and a plot that spins out of control, we end up with a movie that you can't quite sink your teeth into.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

Drowns promising ideas in a sea of missed details and unconvincing motivations.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

There are many things wrong with Novocaine, but the film's most gnawing pain is its clodhopper farfetchedness.

TV Guide Ken Fox

The mystery is terribly plotted and the satirical elements are limited and not very funny.

Variety Todd McCarthy

A Steve Martin vehicle that's not prankish or weird enough by half.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

There's a mechanical desire to work in as many outlandish twists as possible, and shallow grotesquerie quickly takes over.

Austin Chronicle Steve Davis

Given his lackluster performance, even Martin, who is no stranger to sardonic humor, seems unsure about the film's tone.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

Starts out stylishly, and promisingly, but then coarsens into a silly parody of film noir.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

The result is a performance that is neither funny nor empathetic, and the romance that develops between the dentist and the junkie patient is not strong enough to support the mystery.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

Slack direction fails to touch a nerve. Martin was scarier and funnier extracting Bill Murray's molars without Novocaine in "Little Shop of Horrors." Now that was one crazy dentist.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

Spins an unconvincing, miscast noir tale.

Washington Post Stephen Hunter

A coarse, witless and stunningly violent black comedy.

The average user rating for this movie is 8.5 (out of 10) based on 4 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Frank O. gave it a9:
Second time watching this movie...a wild premise and great cinematograhy with black/white scenes. Good use of the cast, great plot twists. A guilty pleasure not seen by many people.

Kevin B. gave it an 8:
Most underrated movie of the year. Has more than enough charms to make you forgive its flaws! I could watch it again and again.

Alex K. gave it an 8:
Utterly predictable but oddly enjoyable. So long as Martin isn't trying to act sarcastic he has great screen presence, and with Bonham Carter you always get a solid performance. Kevin Bacon's cameo is practically worth seeing the movie for. Contrary to most reviews, the dark humor of the film improves drastically after the first forty minutes or so... maybe not the kind of "achievement" Atkins hoped for as a first-time director, but easy to recommend. But has NO ONE noticed the strange and complete rip-off of "The Whole Nine Yards" near the end?

Tony gave it a 9:
Strangely intriguing.... Appeals to a desire for dark, dark comedy. But it is the acting that makes this great Helena Bonham Carter steals the show, but Laura Dern is believable throughout her character's various permetations... and Steve Martin face nicely conveys his fear that he will be convicted of murder or his hair will be messed up. Both events would equally be tragic for the good doctor. Not the best movie out there, but certainly different than the normal, easy to follow, and an example of fine performances by good actors.

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Novocaine Artisan Entertainment

Novocaine
Artisan Entertainment