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Novocaine (2001)

tomatometer

38

Average Rating: 4.7/10
Reviews Counted: 107
Fresh: 41 | Rotten: 66

The quirky Novocaine flirts with both dark comedy and noir suspense, but the result is a jarring mix of tones which never quite mesh.

31

Average Rating: 4.5/10
Critic Reviews: 29
Fresh: 9 | Rotten: 20

The quirky Novocaine flirts with both dark comedy and noir suspense, but the result is a jarring mix of tones which never quite mesh.

audience

37

liked it
Average Rating: 2.8/5
User Ratings: 7,104

My Rating

Movie Info

In this darkly comic film noir from writer/director David Atkins, Steve Martin revisits dentistry -- an occupation he'd explored 15 years prior, in the camp musical Little Shop of Horrors. Novocaine casts Martin as a much more mild-mannered D.D.S., Dr. Frank Sangster. Engaged to a prim and delicate hygienist, Jean (Laura Dern), Sangster leads a placid, upper-middle class existence, save for the occasional visit from his deadbeat artist brother Harlan (Elias Koteas). But Sangster finds his life

R, 1 hr. 35 min.

Drama, Comedy

David Atkins

Apr 23, 2002

$1.5M

Artisan Entertainment

Cast

All Critics (119) | Top Critics (30) | Fresh (42) | Rotten (66) | DVD (24)

The casting is peculiar, the tone is off, the plot is uninteresting and the ending is sorry.

December 28, 2001 Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | Comment
San Francisco Chronicle
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Plays like the sort of silly shared fantasy that a group of dental students might come up with late one night, after too much coffee and cramming for finals.

December 27, 2001 Comment
Orlando Sentinel
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This movie was not effective.

November 27, 2001 Full Review Source: Ebert & Roeper | Comment
Ebert & Roeper
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A coarse, witless and stunningly violent black comedy.

November 24, 2001 Comment
Washington Post
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Atkins never finds the right tone for Novocaine. It's not dark enough to be either viciously funny or unsettling.

November 20, 2001 Full Review Source: Salon.com | Comment
Salon.com
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With Bonham Carter's been-there, done-that performance and a plot that spins out of control, we end up with a movie that you can't quite sink your teeth into.

November 16, 2001 Full Review Source: USA Today | Comment
USA Today
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This dark, stylish tale isn't for kids.

December 26, 2010 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media | Comment
Common Sense Media

It is entertaining enough to arouse imagination of post-Tarantino audience.

March 18, 2005 Full Review | Comment

Prejudicado por um roteiro previsível e que jamais opta por um gênero claro, o filme traz uma ótima atuação de Steve Martin, que deveria fazer mais filmes "sérios".

May 31, 2003 Comment
Cinema em Cena

The film and site offer an offbeat trip, but this is certainly not recommended for anyone who's currently thinking about major dental work.

December 8, 2002 Full Review Source: Film Threat | Comment
Film Threat

To say this is black comedy is to understate the case, but the fun parts really are a hoot.

October 21, 2002 Full Review Source: San Diego Metropolitan | Comment
San Diego Metropolitan

While the plot does work in mechanical terms, its multiple ins and outs never achieve more than plodding motion.

October 15, 2002 Full Review Source: Cincinnati Enquirer | Comment
Cincinnati Enquirer

In a world filled with technically beautiful dogs, every once in awhile it's nice to see a film that bets the bank on great storytelling and a whole lot of soul.

September 13, 2002 Comment

Filled with dark, edgy details and atmosphere, but ultimately becomes a very cold enterprise because you simply don't care about any of the characters.

September 9, 2002 Full Review Source: Film Journal International | Comment
Film Journal International

Intriguingly straddles genres a bit, but a faint sliver of the film it could have been... [with a] lame, roundly unsatisfying motivation and ending.

August 27, 2002 Full Review Source: Entertainment Today | Comment
Entertainment Today
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Novocaine

This has been a quite entertaining movie. Not really a top notch movie, not really working as a comedy, but still pretty entertaining. It started out veeery slow and boooring - it took a little too long for it to evolve. But when it started to it got better and better. There's that very freaky story and a wrecked

September 22, 2007
matertenebraum

Super Reviewer

While I'm not going to say I'd defend this movie to the death, I will say that if you like Steve Martin, you might be willing to see everything he tries. This like, say, The Spanish Prisoner , is something different for Martin, and while it is not an entirely successful movie, it is not unwatchable. Big points to

April 23, 2006
binky013

Super Reviewer

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