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06/01/03
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Novocaine (2001)
37
%
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Reviews Counted:105
Fresh:39
Rotten:66
Average Rating:4.6/10
Consensus: The quirky Novocaine flirts with both dark comedy and noir suspense, but the result is a jarring mix of tones which never quite mesh.
Theatrical Release:Nov 16, 2001 Limited
Box Office: $1,512,342
Synopsis: Novocaine, Artisan Entertainment’s edgy, unpredictable crime thriller, stars Steve Martin as a prosperous dentist whose well-ordered existence is thrown into turmoil when an alluring new patient... [More]
Starring: Steve Martin, Helena Bonham-Carter, Laura Dern, Kevin Bacon
Director: David Atkins
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Reviews for Novocaine
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12/06/05
Like an appointment spent in the hands of a capable dentist, there are certainly worse experiences to be had, but there are also much better.
11/15/01
The performances are terrific, it's stylishly directed, and the script does a clever job of setting us up to expect one thing and then delivering something completely different.
11/15/01
The blessing and the curse of "Novocaine" is that the storyline veers wildly from sequence to sequence and even from genre to genre.
11/14/01
Writer and debut director Atkins' cocky variant on the noir setpiece.
11/16/01
It is entertaining enough to arouse imagination of post-Tarantino audience.
03/18/05
Has everything one would hope for in a successful thriller.
11/26/01
The film and site offer an offbeat trip, but this is certainly not recommended for anyone who's currently thinking about major dental work.
12/08/02
Unusual, but in an accessible, crowd-pleasing way.
11/16/01
Might best be described as modest. It is modestly comic, modestly inventive and modestly entertaining.
11/16/01
Top CriticIn 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.
09/13/02
One of the slickest and most skillful black comedies of the year in the blistering thriller Novocaine.
11/15/01
The weird combination of slapstick and noir gruesomeness ...is a nice antidote to the bland familiarity of so much of today's Hollywood comedy.
11/12/01
More fun than a root canal, any day.
10/11/01
As a thriller, Novocaine is merely par for the course, with plot twists that are not as twisted as they should be. But there are plenty of curves in Atkins' dialogue and direction.
09/17/01
[Atkins] brings to his direction of Martin a finesse shared by only a few of the directors who have worked with the comedian-actor.
11/16/01
Top CriticTo say this is black comedy is to understate the case, but the fun parts really are a hoot.
10/21/02
A sharp, unsettling black comedy about dentistry is long overdue.
11/12/01
Original, packed with quirky characters and obviously has a very strong sense of humor about itself
11/21/01
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