Novocaine

TIFF [2001]

Full size poster

(USA 2001, 100 minutes)
Written and directed by David Atkins
Cast: Steve Martin, Laura Dern, Helena Bonham-Carter, Scott Caan, Elias Koteas, Keith David

Movie Review

Steve Martin plays a dentist again, but mercifully, he doesn't have to sing or dance. Instead, he's fleeing cops, scaling rooftops, and dodging bullets simply because he succumbed, understandably, to the charms of patient Helena Bonham Carter. No, the former "Wild And Crazy Guy" hasn't signed a contract with Joel Silver -- instead, Martin follows up his dramatic turn in the David Mamet thriller "The Spanish Prisoner" by assuming the Campbell Scott role here as the put-upon Regular Guy who finds himself bicuspids-deep in an elaborate con.

Stars Steve Martin and Helena Bonham Carter

Director David Atkins and actor Steve Martin

To reveal too anything of the script's labyrinthine series of double-and-triplecrosses, wickedly staged evidence, and ping-ponging loyalties would be a crime against the innocent filmgoer. But like any classic "noir", "Novocaine" begins with an innocent man taking a bite of the forbidden fruit (my lame oral metaphor is completely appropriate in this case) -- in this instance, Dr. Sangster (Steve Martin) is conned by "patient" Susan (Helena Bonham Carter) into a prescription for Demerol and with the noblest of intentions, becomes involved in a drug-dealing scam with her berserker brother Duane (Scott Caan). Before long, the doctor's layabout brother Harlan (Elias Koteas) suspiciously reappears, then Sangster's own dental impressions vanish, along with his entire office drug supply. And as if being fingered by the DEA isn't bad enough, Sangster's assistant/girlfriend Jean (Laura Dern) doubts his alibis and has been brushing up on her Tae Kwon Doe.

Talk Back

As with "Very Bad Things" and "Shallow Grave", a single moment of desperate violence exponentially transforms an Everyday setting into an all-out charnel house. There are moments of delightfully gruesome bloodletting and some macabre dental procedures that will have you forgetting the immortal "is it safe?" routine from "Marathon Man". But make no mistake: "Novocaine" is also a very funny movie, albeit with a comic bent that's as far from "Father Of The Bride" as one can get this side of an "R" rating. Look for a surprise cameo from a Well Known Actor in what is one of the most deliriously absurd crime scene interrogations ever put on film.

Pity the twist ending of "Novocaine" was blown for me by two chatty reviewers a day earlier, who didn't like the film and obviously felt it was their mission to ruin it for everyone else. Truth be told, anyone who watches their fare share of thrillers will probably see it coming, but will still be smiling all the way. That is, if they can pull their protective hand away from their mouth...

- Robert L

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