Everyone is a Critic: Novocaine

Novocaine (2025), with Jack Quaid

We’ve all wished we couldn’t feel pain at one time or another, most likely, when we’re in a situation that makes us scream with the pain. But that old saying, ‘Be careful what you wish for’ applies here. Just ask Nathan Caine (Jack Quaid), who has lived a life of caution due to a physical condition which sort circuits his pain sensors and makes him a danger to himself at times. But when the new girl in his dreary, humdrum life as a bank manager, is taken hostage in a bank heist, Nathan uses his affliction to turn himself into a superhero, as he singlehandedly chases down the bank robbers and dispatches them one by one. To do so, Nathan must go through some very painful stuff, and although we know he can’t feel it, the scenes are so visceral, that we almost feel it for him, as he turns his fists into lethal weapons by grinding them into crushed glass, or shoves his hand into a vat of hot oil to retrieve a gun.

What an interesting premise. What would you do if you couldn’t feel pain? At first, you might think you’d do whatever you wanted with no pain to stop you. The love interest in this movie, Sherry (Amber Midthunder), states it well, forshadowing what’s to come, when she says, “Wow! You’re a superhero.” And, while battling the bad guys, Nathan seems to be unstoppable. But there’s a dark side to the absence of your body’s defense mechanisms, because pain is there for a reason. He doesn’t feel the pain and so he just keeps going, but the question Nathan must ask himself is can he find the girl and save her before he does so much damage to his body that it shuts down completely? How much abuse can one man take, and survive?

About Kaye Lynne Booth

For Kaye Lynne Booth, writing is a passion. Kaye Lynne is an author with published short fiction and poetry, both online and in print, including her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction; and her paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets; Books 1 & 2 of her Women in the West adventure series, Delilah and Sarah, and book 1 in her Time-Travel Adventure series, The Rock Star & The Outlaw, as well as her poetry collection, Small Wonders and The D.I.Y. Author writing resource.

Kaye holds a dual M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing with emphasis in genre fiction and screenwriting, and an M.A. in publishing. Kaye Lynne is the founder of WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services and WordCrafter Press, where she edits and publishes two short fiction anthologies and one poetry anthology every year amidst her many writing projects. She also maintains an authors’ blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.

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This segment of “Read and Cook” with Robbie Cheadle is sponsored by The Women in the West Adventure Series and WordCrafter Press.

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