doug-697 I rented Novocaine because I like Steve Martin and Helena Bonham Carter and also because I knew nothing about the movie. I enjoyed it and it never bored me at any moment.The movie seems to be characterized as a "black comedy", but I felt it was more of a satire. I think Novocaine is commenting on the struggle we all quietly face between living a safe, conventional life and pursuing our fantasies. Frank Sangster (Steve Martin) seems to have it all, money and a beautiful fiancé, with the only glimpse of discontent being and old French movie he plays for the patients, but which is probably more for him. When the sultry Susan (Helena Bonham Carter) sits in his dental chair, his fantasies are suddenly triggered. While most men (all?) would sympathize with Frank for his temptation, we are led to believe its cause is more of a gigantic moment of weakness, not because he's unhappy with his fiancé, Jean (Laura Dern). Also, while Frank is certainly a victim, there's nothing particularly noble about his actions during the film and you don't completely sympathize with him. And even when he achieves his "fantasy", it is so clichéd and paid for at such a high price, the movie doesn't ennoble Frank's fantasy. On one hand, the movie seems to be about pursuing one's dreams, but it's fairly cynical about it.One of the best aspects of the movie is the effort given to the minor characters. It felt like they tried to give everyone something interesting to do. Even Kevin Bacon shows up for a small, but very funny part. Some of the movie is predictable and implausible, but there were enough surprises to keep it interesting and if I want complete believability I'll watch a documentary.If there was any weakness in the movie, it's that, while we can understand Frank falling for Susan, there's not enough effort given to make it convincing that Susan had really fallen for Frank. This may have been on purpose early in the movie, to keep you guessing about Susan's intentions, but there should have been one scene before the movie is over which tells you why she wants to be with him. And the movie is a bit thin overall on the motivations and personality of Susan. She is apparently a drug addict and having a "difficult" relationship with her brother, but this is passed over too little.If you want to watch something a bit different, sort of an "anti-Roxanne", this might be worth renting. On the other hand, if you fear going to the dentist, you may wish to take care.

jason_13 Steve Martin stars in an usual kind of movie and the expectations are failure, but this is not true and the movie is great. The story follows a dentist getting in deep troubles with a whore while he is married.Well, the movie has many merits. 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. It's just Martin and you connect him with humor and laughs and I really started respecting him as a comedian after watching his classic roles in The Jerk and The Lonely Guy. His acting is superb while his role is casual. More of those characters that are on the line between positive and negative, but after all interesting for the audience.The movie itself as I said is indeed something to remember and something fresh, mostly cause of the successful mixture between most entertain kind of movie genres and of course every day life drama scenes which are of course garbage, but the movie is not supposed to be a drama after all and this is why I close my eyes for the failed try of dramatic influence over the viewer.Rating:8/10

movieman_kev 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. Which leads him on an odesy of sex, drugs, and murder in this black comedy that sadly seems to skimp on the comedy aspect. Laura Dern seems miscast as Franks put-upon fiancé. One bright spot is Kevin Bacon. This movie isn't bad, it's not good either. It's just... there.My Grade: C DVD Extras: Director's Commentary; 'Bitten' (a 9-minute featurette about dentistry); Getting the Shot (a making of featurette); 5 deleted scenes; 6 excerpts from the musical score; Production Notes; Cast and Crew bios; 2 Theatrical Trailers; and Trailers for "Dr. T and the Women"; the Rambo Trilogy; "Good Advice", "Van Wilder", and the first season of "Twin Peaks" Easter Egg: one more deleted scene; out takes of said scene; and a Storyboard to screen comparison can be found be highlighting a stuffed toy in various places Eye Candy: Helena is fleetingly topless

rbrb Just seen by me on cable,and having read in the film mag that Steve Martin led the cast,I expected a funny film, or at the least, an interesting one.I was wrong. 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........ just a total mess; looking to me like it was made up as it went along, wholly uneven,lacking any merit, humour or sense, and the actors much of the time suggest they are ad-libbing with mostly half-hearted performances. 1 out of 10.