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Novacaine review: ‘sticks and stones won’t hurt him’

Lars Jacobson’s violent action-comedy is about an assistant bank manager who can’t feel pain

March 27, 2025 13:19
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No pain, no gain Cain: Jack Quaid Photo: Marcos Cruzmarcos Cruz
1 min read

Like the armed bank robbers who raid the Santiago Trust Credit Union in this violent action-comedy, the plot attempts to get in and out of your head as soon as possible, hopefully without leaving evidence that very little has been thought through.

​Still, a quick Google search reveals that CIP – Congenital Insensitivity to Pain – is actually a thing. This is the condition that causes Jack Quaid’s meek assistant bank manager Nathan Cain to live life as cautiously as possible. Eating solids is a no, no because he might bite off his tongue without ever knowing it. An alarm on his watch is set to go off every three hours as a warning that he must empty his bladder “before it explodes”. Though surely the more immediate risk is that he will urinate himself.

​However incontinence is not the kind of event co-directors Dan Berk and Robert Olsen are interested in portraying. Plunging a bare hand into the churning hot oil of a deep fryer to fish out a gun is more their thing.

Lars Jacobson’s barrelling script feels like it was written in bar. As such it is best to drink a lot before watching

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