Novocaine

Plot synopsis:
Generally, the film is a dark and quirky "tragicomedy". The "everyman" protagonist, Dr. Frank Sangster (Steve Martin), is a dentist with a fairly pleasant but rather innocuous, ordinary and uneventful life. But all of this gets derailed, and Frank's life descends into an increasingly complex mess, from the minute a beautiful and seductive new patient named Susan Ivey (Helena Bonham Carter) comes to him, seeking a root canal and a little pain relief...
On Susan's initial office visit, Frank schedules her for a root canal the very next day, and offers her some Ibuprofen to address her pain in the meanwhile. Claiming that she is allergic to the offered medication, Susan requests a prescription for the addictive pain-killer Demerol. Frank provides the prescription, but only for five tablets. However, Susan changes the dosage from five tablets to fifty when she collects the medication from her pharmacist.
Susan arrives for her appointment twelve hours late, having mistaken the time. She seduces Frank, talking him into getting drunk and having sex with her. During the night, Susan steals all of Frank's narcotics. The next day, there is a DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) agent at Frank's office demanding to see the dentist's narcotics supply, because an 18-year-old has driven a car off a cliff under the influence of cocaine hydrochloride from a bottle registered to the dentist. Knowing that Susan has stolen his entire drug supply, Frank puts the agent off, saying he dispensed it all to patients. The agent leaves with the promise that if Frank fails to produce the empty containers in two days, the DEA will place him under arrest.
That night Frank goes to Susan's hotel room to demand the empty containers, threatening that he'll call the police if she doesn't provide them. Once again, she overrides his initial intentions and seduces him - with the result that they have sex and he spends the night with her.
The next day at his office, Frank is confronted by Susan's brother, Duane Ivey (Scott Caan) having a violent scene, saying: "Stay the hell away from my sister" and "I don't appreciate your threats". Duane ends the conversation with, "I don't ever want to see you again, because if I do, goddamn it, I'm gonna hurt you."
That night, Frank returns to Susan's hotel room and, assuming that Susan is the form he sees the bed, starts talking to her. The person under the blanket turns out to be not Susan but brother Duane, who leaps up and attacks Frank, attempting to strangle him. Frank takes scissors from a nearby desk and stabs Duane in the hand, impaling him and embedding the scissors. Frank flees, stopping off at a bar to calm down. On arriving at home, just minutes ahead of his girlfriend Jean (Laura Dern), he finds Duane dead on the floor.
Police arrive on the scene to question Frank. Comically adding to Frank's distress and anxiety is actor Lance Phelps (Kevin Bacon), a hack actor doing research for a role, and permitted by the police to question Frank at aggressive levels that cause Frank heightened discomfort. After the police arrive and depart, Frank tells Jean about the whole ordeal.
A while later, Frank is arrested for the murder of Duane Ivey based on finding Frank's teeth marks on the body - that someone else put there after killing Duane. After Frank breaks free, all of Chicago is on the look out for him. He goes to his office in the night, only to find his brother Harlan lying dead.
At this point, it is revealed that Frank's girlfriend Jean is behind all of the killing. She killed Duane with a shotgun and created dentures of Frank's teeth using his dental equipment and bit Duane's corpse with them. She was also in cahoots with Harlan, with whom she was having an affair. Unfortunately for Harlan, her plan was to eventually kill him as well with the shotgun to tie up all loose ends and make it appear that Frank killed him after Duane.
Realizing he'll never be free without starting over, Frank pulls out all of his dead brother's teeth, as well as all of his own. Frank uses his dental skills to place his own teeth into his dead brother's skull, and then sets fire to the dental office with Harlan's corpse, replete with replaced teeth, left inside. Frank and Susan, now lovers, escape to France, where they live happily ever after in a little cottage on the countryside.
Meanwhile, Jean's attempts to frame Frank fall apart. Unbeknownst to her, Harlan was playing with a medical video camera while he was shot and the recovered footage shows Jean firing the shotgun at the camera holder but fails to show it was Harlan who was shot. Therefore, the police wrongly assume that Jean shot Frank and arrest her.

Tags: suspenseful, comedy, murder, claustrophobic

Review:
And there couldn't have been a more thrilling cast to watch on screen.Novocaine is a suspense thriller, as well as an extremely funny movie.
Steve Martin is believable as a dentist who sees his life spiraling out of control after a series of cascading lies sets him up as a murder suspect.
If you want to see a pretty good Steve Martin performance and can overlook Novocaine's many flaws, it is definitely watchable.
And if that doesn't tickle your fear, then maybe the fact that the dentist is Steve Martin will.Film noirs are a tricky thing to make correctly.
Steve Martin in a film noir about a funny dentist?
Fortunately, I instantly realized I had made a mistake.Our tale begins with Dr. Frank Sangster, a mild-mannered dentist (isn't that how it always is in film noirs?) with a fiancé/co-worker, Jean (Laura Dern), and a generally nice, peaceful little world.
Steve Martin is about the last person you'd expect to see in a film like this, but my favorite comedian pulls it off.
I watched the featurette on the DVD and director David Atkins explained that he wanted to throw a curve ball at the audience by having Steve Martin play the main character in a dark comedy--since audiences are probably expecting something much broader.
It seemed as though the director wanted to do a straight suspense film, and Steve Martin wanted to do a screwball comedy, and in the end, it's neither one.
If you are expecting a typical Steve Martin comedy, then don't see this movie.
However, if you are looking for a dark comedy with many twists and turns, and with great acting, then this movie is for you.
I liken it to The Spanish Prisoner, another fantastic Steve Martin movie that contained many unexpected plot twists.
And all this picture does is suggest that some of the people who control feature films are a bunch of selfish, perverse and greedy egotists.Apart from 'Royal Tenenbaums' which for me is one of the unfunniest movies of all time, "Novacaine" comes very close to out-ranking it.The plot: Dentist has a female drug addict patient whom he fancies, leading to a whole series of bizarre and ridiculous events, mainly because of her addiction.Not only is the female lead totally mis-cast,most sane people would not, nor could not, in the context of the way this film is made, find anything remotely funny about drug addiction, quite apart from the nonsensical killings and unnecessary violence in this picture.I got the impression that whoever wrote and directed this film has no idea whether to create a comedy or a drama, as from my perspective it was neither........
I always love to be able to use the term "hidden gem" in my reviews, since those are the kind of movies I seek out most, and this Steve Martin vehicle totally qualifies.
I don't dislike Steve Martin, but this is the most I've ever liked him in a movie, since he usually can't seem to stop his "acting" from going too far over-the-top.
It *seemed* like it should be good, but in the end (as a political pundit once said) there was just no "there" there.If you get the DVD, watch the "making of" segment for Steve Martin's remark on why he signed on to the film.
I think a lot of people don't mind seeing Steve Martin again playing a dentist after his role in the 1986 version of "Little Shop of Horrors", although of course his role in this movie is quite different."Novocaine" is a movie that is using all of the classic film-noir ingredients but above all the movie is a comedy.
The movie has some nice twists but never forgets to also entertain.Steve Martin shows why he is still a much asked actor for comedies, even though his best roles are long since behind him, he still knows how to handle the genre and time things in his performances, without ever going over-the-top with anything.
Helena Bonham Carter is a great femme fatale for this movie and Laura Dern also plays a surprising role.
Kevin Bacon also makes a totally fun cameo as an actor who is doing research for a cop role.The great and typically wacky musical main titles for the movie were composed by Danny Elfman, which set the tone for the movie really.
It's good quality entertainment to watch and better than your average film-noir/comedy crossover attempt, which is mainly thanks to the great cast of the movie and the solid written story.7/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/.
Steve Martin is a great comedian but,usually,he does not choose his projects well.But,sometimes,Martin leaves the mediocre comedy and he participates on something serious and way better like The Spanish prisoner,Shopgirl or Novocaine,the movie I'll talk about on this commentary.This is a fun black comedy which is combined with a thriller story.I have to say it's really a pleasure to see Martin on a serious role like this one.He should participate on more movies like this one.The best thing about this movie is that there are so much unexpected things that anything can happen and it kept me in mystery.The cast is very well:I explained Martin is great,Helena Bonham Carter is a great actress and her performance is at her level,Keith David has a short but hilarious performance,Laura Dern is great but the great Kevin Bacon steals the show.He does not appear too much but he's brilliant and hilarious.The plot has original things,too.Novocaine is not a great movie but I have to say it kept me very fun..
I just finished watching this movie for the first time and all I can say is "Wow."  This was not the Steve Martin that I am used to.
It was a great movie, where Steve Martin actually uses his acting ability and does so with triumphant impact.
And all the tense bits gets played down, too, by the odd insouciance of every character--especially our hero--as if the director was afraid to get the comedy too dark.I have to think that 'Novocaine' is either a perfect Steve Martin vehicle, or that somehow Steve Martin lends a peculiar flavor to all the movies he appears in--a sort of overpowering blandness that makes all the comedy seem somehow flaccid, and all the romance seem flat.Better than a root canalbut not as good as a hit of nitrous oxide..
All in all, it's a film for people who like to watch good movies.
And it was actually a quite nice change of pace for Steve Martin.The movie is about Frank Sangster, a dentist whose life is rosy red and dandy.
Director David Atkins actually managed to put together a very entertaining movie.One of the things that really lifted up this movie was the impressive cast, which included Steve Martin, Laura Dern, Elias Koteas and of course Helena Bonham Carter.
Dr. Frank Sangster (Steve Martin) is a straight-laced dentist engaged to his assistant Jean Noble (Laura Dern).
Overall, this movie is well acted, headlined by Steve Martin and Helena Bonham Carter.
Steve Martin is a dentist whose life seems to be perfect - granted, he's getting sick & tired of dealing with his screw-up brother Harlan (Elias Koteas) but otherwise, his life's great.
He has a beautiful fiancee (Laura Dern, who is super), a successful dental practice and then...In walks Susan Ivey (Helena Bonham Carter) and the good doctor's life is turned completely upside down.
Steve Martin was at one time considered to play the lead role in Eyes Wide Shut because Kubrick loved the way he acted.
Set aside your expectations for a Steve Martin comedy, and I think you'll enjoy this one too..
I like most of Steve Martin's work, and I also liked this movie, but I was not impressed.Novocaine has it's moments where it is really funny, but there are also some periods where not much is happening.
Everything starts to unravel for the doctor after a new patient, Susan Ivey (Helena Bonham Carter) sits in his chair and starts a chain of events that lead inevitably towards disaster.It's the most familiar of film noir plots - innocent and law-abiding man meets a girl that's a far cry from his perfect ideal.
The best part was to see Steve Martin in a little bit different light then his usual comedy roles.
Some weird effects like X-ray or dental related views are intersected between scenes for the sake of being there, not really adding anything.Although some of the movie's twists were predictable, the final whodunnit was a surprise to me, along with what our dentist's solution.All in all, a watchable film, but nothing to go out of the way to see..
Plus definite on-edge acting from Steve Martin makes this a movie worth seeing if you can suspend your disbelief enough to enjoy it.
Do not rent Novocaine if you are hoping to enjoy a typical Steve Martin comedy.
thank goodness for the cast in this directorial mishmosh that only seems to work because of Laura Dern and Steve Martin giving it their all and a great little turn by Kevin Bacon.
I fear this will be the one for Steve Martin, Laura Dern  & Helena Bonham Carter.
This is definitely not a movie to eat popcorn by and, in spite of the satisfying ending, everyone at my screening left the theater feeling sickened and extremely disappointed in Steve Martin..
I liked all the actors in "Novocaine" but disliked all the characters not in a good way like a good black comedy should offer but in a bad way that a lousy script offers.I like Steve Martin .
I should say that I was amused by the movie enough before I saw it: Helena Bonham Carter as the vampy mystery woman, and Steve Martin as the lead, a Dentist who is caught up in said mystery?
Yet, this film is too problematic and unconvincing to amount to much of anything.First there is the script, which, despite being completely random and aimless at times with dead-end narrative points including incest and unexplained motivations, could have been salvaged into something more than a high-grade B-movie by some inventive production and decent performances.
The one exception is the surprise presence of Kevin Bacon, who has only a bit role, but manages to be genuinely funnier just acting off-the-cuff for a few minutes than anybody else in the film.To sum, the "twist" ending isn't one (complete cheez-wiz), the plot developments are mired in cliche, and the performances are alternatingly forced or transparent.
I would have thought that the best thing this movie had going for it would be the simple presence of the usually competent and funny Steve Martin.
This one has bite; an odd, eccentric black comedy with Steve Martin as a bourgeois dentist framed for murder..
He shouldn't be playing stud roles, and while his comedy timing is usually flawless, this movie has him playing a stud-muffin dim-witted dentist who would write an illegal prescription for 5 not five tablets of demerol and not expect it to be bumped to 50, not report it to the police when he found out and subsequently have sex with the flaky broad in his dentist chair and all the other stupid things he does in the first 15 minutes of the film and not expect bad things to happen.
For being a first-time director, David Atkins handles this film like a pro and provides one of the funniest dark comedies in recent years.
With the addition of Scott Caan (son of James) as a psychotic brother to Carter and Kevin Bacon as a clueless actor doing a character study, the cast is solid and well rounded.There are a few unanswered questions at the end, but that is most likely intentional to make the audience think a little.
It has great thrills, great suspense moments and of course black humor which is something I liked a lot and I believe Novocaine wouldn't have been the same movie without it.
even an average movie is good for Steve Martin nowadays.
Steve Martin plays Frank Sangster, a boring dentist whose life begins to unravel after he prescribes some drugs to Susan (the stunning Helena Carter), who outright seduces him later.
The DVD cover shows Steve Martin just as he was in the "Little Shop of Horrors" but there is nothing funny or original in this movie.
Steve Martin does a good job taking on a different kind of comedic role, less broad, and with a darker edge, but the movie doesn't support him.
In particular, Steve Martin's character's actions early on are not behaviors I can really believe, but once it's done, the plot is underway, and you have no choice but to accept it or immediately take the movie out of the machine and return it to the video store.Scott Caan fans will also appreciate his presence.
The rest of the film did sort of frustrate me because it seemed like Steve Martin's problems were just so preventable, and he kept doing things to make the situation worse.
Besides, Helena Bonham Carter's miscasting throws the whole film off balance; for the plot to work we have to be willing to believe that an affluent dentist would be willing to give up his entire life (which he himself describes as "perfect") just to be with this one woman, but Carter isn't seductive or appealing enough in the role.
Some nice scenes especially between Martin and Dern, but Helena Bonham-Carter seems to walk through her role ...
Helena Bonham Carter is all at sea as a drug addict/seductress/thief for whom Steve Martin falls, and her brother Duane is a ludicrously over the top thug.
However, Helena Bonham Carter on the loose to bilk dentists like Steve Martin of their drugs is the best fear generator of the film.
This film is definitely worth seeing, if not for Steve Martin's unusual, yet entertaining portrayal of a dentist caught up in sex, drugs, murder and being annoyingly questioned by a hippied Kevin Bacon!!!
In "Novocaine", a lukewarm cross-genre flick which isn't dark comedy but which does have a tan, Martin plays a dentist who finds his successful but bland lifestyle somewhat like pulling teeth and murder follows.
Steve Martin needs to stick to comedy,and Helena Bonham Carter should get back in her corset, we've seen enough of her.
NOVOCAINE (2001) **1/2 Steve Martin, Helena Bonham Carter, Laura Dern, Elias Koteas, Scott Caan, Kevin Bacon, Keith David, Lynne Thigpen.
Now that Steve Martin is no longer funny I can understand him wanting to branch out in other directions, but Helena Bonham Carter and Laura Dern have no such excuse.
Rarely does the title of a film say as much about it as this one does; because by the time you get to the end, there's a good chance you're going to feel quite numb, as if you've been given a body-size shot of novocaine.
Frank Sangster (Steve Martin) is a dentist with a successful practice, a beautiful finance, Jean (Laura Dern), and a future that promises more of the same.
Steve Martin turns in what is arguably the most convincing performance of the film, but it is far from his best work.
Laura Dern has also done better work-- though, as Jean, she looks good, and certainly brings a lot of energy to the film.
This one, alas, is riddled with holes.It also shares another fatal flaw with earlier second-raters like The Getaway (Alec Baldwin, Kim Basinger) and The Silent Partner (Elliott Gould, Susannah York): even the characters we're expected to sympathize with have the moral sense of garden slugs, and no real virtues beyond the fact that they're good-looking.Steve Martin, a dentist, has a gorgeous, charming, loving fiancée and assistant in Laura Dern, yet somehow he instantly and implausibly falls for rude, bratty, drug-addicted Helena Bonham Carter.
Steve Martin's character kept making SUCH bad decisions that it was painful to watch and you could easily see where it was going.But I'm glad I stuck with it.
With a friend mentioning to me that she was interested in watching a Comedy movie,I decided to pay a visit to a local DVD shop.Getting near the end of a shelf,I was happy to spot a Steve Martin title that I remember seeing lots of ads for when it came out,which led to me getting ready to pay the dentist a visit.The plot:Living a care-free life,dentist Frank Sangster finds himself being taken out of his comfort zone by new patient Susan.
I rented Novocaine because I like Steve Martin and Helena Bonham Carter and also because I knew nothing about the movie.
What I got was 'try hard' wit and ridiculous implausibility.Now this really p****s me off because I love Steve Martin, I love Laura Dern, I love Helena Bonham Carter and I love Kevin Bacon.
At the film's beginning, Steve Martin's engaged to Laura Dern (what more could an average Joe want?), he's got a good job, he's got a very nice home, he's portrayed as a stable, even tempered middle aged dude.
The film doesn't really come off like a comedy, although Laura Dern acts a bit over-the-top most of the time.
Novocaine (2001): Dir: David Atkins / Cast: Steve Martin, Helena Bonham Carter, Elias Koteas, Laura Dern, Scott Caan: Very disturbing and sometimes unpleasant black comedy about dentistry with an underlining theme of numbing pain associated with the job and symbolic with the screenplay.
Steve Martin plays a dentist engaged to his hygienist until Helena Bonham Carter plunks down in his chair.
*Minor Spoilers* NOVOCAINE starts off slow, opening into the world of Dr. Frank Sangster (Steve Martin).
For God's sake, when a thriller involves a dentist, does it HAVE to have the same tooth-swapping ending (a la 'Whole Nine Yards').Characters: Steve Martin, although a decent lead in other films, is woefully miscast.
Steve Martin has been the best thing in many films.
Frank Sangster (Steve Martin) is a successful dentist who is engaged to his hygienist Jean (Laura Dern), a seemingly All-American blonde.