By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2 cats
Director: David Atkins
Starring: Elias Koteas | Helena Bonham-Carter | Laura Dern | Steve Martin
Country: united_states
Year: 2001
Running time: 95
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0234354/reference
Hilary says: “I wouldn’t quite call NOVOCAINE a neo-noir, but it certainly owed a lot to the genre, much like THE DEEP END (a favorite from earlier this year). Steve Martin’s protagonist, Dr. Frank Sangster, a successful Chicago dentist, reminded me of Fred MacMurray’s insurance agent in DOUBLE INDEMNITY: each one’s mundane existence is blown apart by a meeting with The Wrong Woman, and each finds himself getting drawn further into a world he doesn’t quite understand, but becomes wholly involved in.
“Laura Dern was great as Dr. Frank’s Barbie-esque fiance/dental hygenist, Jean. Less convincing was Helena Bonham Carter as the junkie/grifter Wrong Woman. I thought HBC was great in a similar role in FIGHT CLUB after seeing her only in Merchant-Ivory type productions for so long, but here she wasn’t wholly believable. But then I might have been too distracted by her absurd wardobe, which screamed Madonna circa DESPERATELY SEEKING SUSAN. She didn’t seem powerful enough to turn Frank’s whole life upside-down, neither in her strengths nor her vulnerabilities.
“Danny Elfman’s score, the use of x-rays overlaid on the film, and the metaphor of dental decay were used to good effect to create a sense of dread, lurking just beneath the veneer of Frank’s seemingly perfect life. I’ve read that the director, David Atkins, is from a family of dentists (3 of them served as technical advisers on the film)and I think he did well to subtly demonstrate how creepy the profession is.
“Overall, I didn’t enjoy it as much as I’d hoped, but it has a lot to recommend itself.”
Laura says: “The best part of NOVOCAINE occurs during its opening credits where eerie X-rays, which will intermittently appear throughout the film, are paired with Danny Elfman’s EDWARD SCISSORHANDS meets SE7EN score. When the story begins, in an office environment strongly reminiscent of Robert Altman’s DR. T AND THE WOMEN it sustains interest for a while, before sinking into a hopelessly over-plotted tale where the players are jerked around by the whims of story line rather than character development.” 2 cats
“For Laura’s complete review: “http://www.reelingreviews.com/novocaine.htm”