January 17, 2002

From the Collegiate Times:

NOVOCAINE NUMBS AUDIENCES

by James Salem

David Atkins makes his feature debut as a writer-director of "Novocaine," an entertaining film that blends elements of film noir and black comedy. The film can be seen at the Lyric Theater in downtown Blacksburg tonight at 7 p.m. and 9:15 p.m.

Steve Martin stars as Frank Sangster, a respected dentist who runs a successful practice in Chicago and has a beautiful fiancie in Jean, played by Laura Dern, who is also his efficient assistant.

Frank's peaceful life gets disrupted with the arrival of Susan, played by Helena Bonham-Carter, a mysterious stranger from Michigan who comes for a root canal. Frank suspects foul play when Susan asks Frank to provide her with illegal painkillers.

He also shows up 12 hours late for her 7:30 a.m. appointment and slowly allows himself to be seduced by her.

The comedic breaking point comes when Susan suggests that they fool around in the dentist's chair. The one place where Frank has always wanted to have sex, but Jean has always refused.

In addition to hiding his fling with Susan from a suddenly neurotic Jean, Frank has to deal with the unexpected arrival of his troublesome brother, Harlan, played by Elias Koteas, who instantly gets Frank into trouble when the two end up in a bar fight that very night.

The plot thickens again with the arrival of Susan's psychotic brother, played by Scott Caan. The newly thickened plot involves Frank being wanted for murder and has him running from the cops, which introduces Kevin Bacon in an amusing cameo as an actor doing research for an upcoming role as a cop.

There are several twists and turns, but anyone who is familiar with the genre should be able to see them coming, and the final denouement that ties all of them together is not a very satisfying end and, in some ways, downright lazy. The surprises in the film that actually catch audiences off guard are the more subtle surprises headed up by Dern's character.

Nothing that the actress has previously done prepares you for the sharply comic vigor and sass with which she plays Jean, an obsessive-compulsive schemer. The consummate actress continues to add on to her versatility with a wide variety of characters, and this role, plus her superb turn as Richard Gere's alcoholic sister-in-law in the previous year's underrated Dr. T and the Women, are admirable tributes to her talent.

The other performers are also a treat to watch and they are the real force that makes the movie work.

Bonham-Carter is basically playing a comic variation on her character in Fight Club, but she does it with such charm and seductive energy that you hardly notice. Koteas, who makes an interesting entrance, also scores as Martin's no-good brother.

However, the film's center is held together by Martin, who takes on his second role as a dentist, with the first being in 1986's Little Shop of Horrors.

Here, he plays the comedy straight man, getting most of the film's laughs by engaging in numerous bouts of delightful physical comedy.

The star-studded Novocaine is a less-than-stellar writing/directing debut from Atkins but is nonetheless difficult not to enjoy and should make way for a promising career.