Customer Reviews

Novocaine

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

Just saw Novocaine at the Boston Film Festival. Steve Martin was there in person to accept the 2001 performance award for his role in the film. What a clever black comedy suspense thriller. Steve Martin stars as a dentist who falls in with Helena Bonham Carter, a young girl who uses the dentist to get her prescriptions for painkillers. Laura Dern is Steve's sexy co-worker/fiancee who doesn't realise that her man is off having sex with a druggie. Along the way, Steve Martin's character becomes embroiled in lies, deceit, and murder. A clever and funny film. Trying to figure out who-dun-it and why was never so much fun. **Kevin Bacon is hilarious in his cameo as Lance Phelps. His best performance in years.

I am a dental hygienist, although not nearly as obsessive-compulsive and crazy as Laura Dern's Jean Noble. I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed this film!

A local oral surgeon sponsored a private screening for local dentists and their staff members. In other words, the theater was packed with dental professionals. We had a ball! It played very well to our audience, as the movie was technically very good (dentally speaking). Other dental-type movies have left a lot to be desired in that category!

The movie was indeed a comedy, allbeit a dark comedy. It's the kind of humor where you laugh, but with your hand over your mouth to cover up the fact that your humor is a bit deranged. Although, perhaps I am speaking for myself.

Laura Dern, Steve Martin, Helena Bonham Carter, and Kevin Bacon all turn in super performances. It was a fun ride, and the who-done-it guessing game was much fun!

I recommend this movie, especially to the dental community or anyone who is not squeamish!

Novocaine is labeled as a dark comedy in the reviews here, a conclusion I don't necessarily see from the film. It is nuanced entertainment, you don't expect anything else from a Steve Martin fare, and it does have its quirky elements. But I'd perhaps call it a murder suspense thriller with wit. Just go with the suspension of disbelief, and enjoy the plot twists as the craziness of the "decay" takes its hold. Recommended!

Taking a cheap shot at your dentist is a cherished and venerable tradition of gallows humor. There is no profession (except maybe lawyering) that takes it on the chin like denistry. Maybe that's why dentists have the highest suicide rate of any profession. David Atkin's feature debut, "Novocaine" is a dark comedy of an annoyingly smug dental practitioner who falls prey to a deliciously amoral femme fatale.

Frank Sangster, played by Steve Martin, is a suburban dentist who has it all: a thriving practice, an attractive blonde dental hygenist/fiance (Laura Dern) and even a television monitor showing a relaxing travelouge of rustic Italy for patients to watch, as he performs root canals on them. Susan Ivey (Helena Bonham Carter) is the girl all of our mothers warned us about. From the moment she slithers into his office seeking percodan for recreational purposes, we know that this woman will cut a path of murder and mayhem across Sangster's thin veneer of respectability. Helena Bonaham Carter takes a break from costume epics and sizzles as the decandent, drug addled Susan. Clearly Bonaham Carter delights in her over-the-top characterization of Susan and is sublimely funny as she cunningly manipulates Steve Martin to do her will. Kevin Bacon is a good actor who has made a lot of bad career decisions. In "Novocaine" he shines as a self-absorbed method actor studying for a police detective role and unwittingly stays one step ahead of actual detectives with his by-the-numbers, Hollywood scripted analysis of the crime.

If you liked the farce "Election" with Matthew Broderick and Reese Witherspoon you will probably love this movie. It's too bad "Novocaine" had such a short run at the art houses but I'm hoping it will find a new life when it is released in the DVD and VHS formats.

Steve Martin's new film is a nice redirection from his overtly comic work (though even when Steve is serious, he's funny). It harkens towards his role in the Spanish Prisoner only he is more the focus in this movie. The entire cast does a great job and the end result is a very entertaining Hitchcockian thriller/black comedy. If you're looking for Parenthood then look somewhere else, if you're looking for a unique and well-executed thriller then this is it.

Steve Martin and Helena Bonham Carter's outing into comedic film noir in "Novocaine" is not destined to be in the Criterion Collection of great movies. But it is fun to watch...in part because I recently discovered that Bonham-Carter and Martin were involved with each other (I don't know whether this was before, during, or after the movie was shot). In any case, the two leads had some chemistry...And since I love Helena Bonham Carter (almost as much as I like Kate Winslet), that made "Novocaine" more than watchable for me.

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The plot is simple. Steve Martin plays a dentist who seems to have it all: wealth, respect, the love of a good woman (played by Laura Dern), and a substantial dental practice. But then Helena Bonham Carter's character comes into his life and nothing is much the same after that (and Martin soon learns that the "good life" he was living was largely a tissue of lies). Helena Bonham Carter plays a character who is a very far cry from her period piece characters in "Room with a View," "Wings of a Dove," "Howard's End," etc. For one thing, she plays an American (with a faultless accent). She also plays a character whose appearance and behavior pretty much scream "I'm a bad girl but I've got a heart of gold."

I won't get into the plot machinations except to comment that if you are afraid of dentists and dentistry, this is probably not something you want to see. There is some gore (two murders) as well as one fairly explicit scene where Steve Martin and Helena Bonham Carter get "a little friendly" in the dentist's chair.

But it's all good fun nonetheless and people knocking it for "not being realistic" ought to skip comedies in general because real life seldom is funny...but this movie is...frequently.

If you like Steve Martin, then you'll probably like this movie. I give it four stars because it earns its weight in laughs and entertaining scenes. The Amazon review misleads. It's true, it doesn't completely 'find its footing', and by all means it's not a "perfect" film or comedy - but for sheer easy going fun, with a black humour edge, you could do a whole lot worse than this film. I didn't regret watching it. It certainly ends with a bit of a stretch that's a little too convenient (but of course the whole movie is highly implausable!). Still, I found that in this 95 minute film, the interest level is pretty high for at least 75 of those minutes. And it was better than 3 stars too which I'd reserve for films like "Protocal" which I saw recently with Goldie Hawn, who I really love in her better moments - that film was too predictable and the laughs were far and few between. This one gave me more than a few chuckles - loved Kevin Bacon's performance. Beleivable? Heck no. But in the comedy department, it scored 4 of 5 in laughs (or at least chuckles). If you're not too demanding, or expecting Stanley Kubricks' next masterpiece, you'll have fun with Steve in this over-the-top movie with understated humor.

I hadn't seen this movie before a few weeks ago and I ordered the DVD. I love Steve Martin and I especially enjoy him in different roles (other than comedy). I loved Shopgirl, in this regard, and this movie was a different challenge for Mr. Martin as well.

Laura Dern was excellently cast, as well as Helena Bonham-Carter.

I love small-ensemble films and this was one. I'd recommend you see it if you haven't and you really like Steve Martin.

Steve Martin's kind of humor obviously is not for everyone, but he happens to be an intelligent actor who can make seeing a film like this a joy. The only problem is in which direction are we being sent: Is it a film noir? Is it a comedy, or what? But after you settle down, this is a winning film, you won't be sorry you came. The acting is great. Not only is Mr. Martin good, but the rest of the cast, especially, Laura Dern, who's always a pleasure to watch in anything she does. Ms. Bonham-Carter is equally effective, playing as she does in this film, against type. The direction by David Atkins is good, as are the beginning credits, which are a lot of fun to watch.

i thought this movie was sooo funny! i loved it! :)

Helena was sooo GREAT in it! she's always really awesome in her movies! :)

you should all definately see this.. its a great comedy.. and you never know whats gonna happen next! :)