| Home | Movies A-M | Movies N-Z | News |
The major flaw of this movie? Not funny. I laughed a couple times, but I suspect almost all of them were forced, because I thought they were humorous, but not enough to make me chuckle, or even snort. Martin is, of course, best in comedies, but to make them work, he needs more than his name and face. He does have great comedic timing, but he just couldn’t pull it off. Not to say he wasn’t bad at acting, he just didn’t make me laugh. Carter, though nowhere near her performance in Fight Club, did a very good job, and she seemed to have chemistry with Martin. Dern, however, seemed to be out of place, and just went in and out of the movie at times. That brings me to my next point, which is a good thing. Many of the events that occur early on in the movie that you wouldn’t even remember come back later and become involved in the story.
There were lots of scenes, with cool transitions in between them, with a few of them being X-Rays of the characters as they are moving, but others are a purple bar that sweeps across. Very cool. Martin provides a narration that is scarce and would have been better if it had been more widely used or not used at all. And, many of the plot developments were somewhat heavy for a comedy (no matter how dark). Novocaine relied on mayhem to make us laugh, which I didn’t buy.
I also thought it seemed like Martin was trying to reach to an older audience (more than the teenagers) by constant swearing that was not necessary. It also had many grisly images that I didn’t think needed to belong there (also included is that teddy bear…brrr). Maybe it would have been better if Martin had made this as a drama (which would have worked), because of its dark comedy style that seems to overtake it sometimes. Many secondary characters were unnecessary.
I did, however, like the mystery that overtook the story. I found it more enjoyable than the supposed humor. The ending, nonetheless, had everything explained and wrapped up in a nice little package and express shipped to our hearts (well, maybe not that last part) and was unsatisfactory. If it had been more ambiguous, it would be able to be more believable. I was thinking, all the way through the movie, that everyone tried way too hard to make a substantial comedy. A character’s breakdown at the end didn’t make be believe him/her.
“Pretty funny, huh?” a character asks during the movie, when another gives a negative response. I couldn’t agree more.
Rated R for violence, sexuality, language and drug content.
Review Date: January 9, 2003