Novocaine (2001)
Review by HTQ4
Film:
DVD:

Features:

• Getting the Shot - Making of Novocaine
  
• Bitten" - An exploration of Forensic Dentistry
  
• Deleted Scenes
  
• Running audio commentary with director Atkins
  
• Music of Novocaine
  
• Trailer Gallery
  

Dr. Frank Sangster (Martin) has a very successful dental practice and is engaged to be married to his hygenist, Jean Noble (Dern). Everything seems to be bopping along pretty smoothly for him until Susan Ivey (Carter) sits down in his chair. She seduces him into giving her drugs for sexual favors (all the while fulfilling a fantasy that Jean won't let him live out). He then finds himself in over his head and accused of something he didn't do. Sangster knows he's being framed and is determined to find out who is doing this to him and why...oh yeah, and to get off the hook for it, too.

Okay, you probably know the story right now and you probably know how it ends, too. I'm still not going to spoil it for you, but it's that predictable. The only cast member that seems out of her depth is Dern. She was simply not believable as the domineering, anal-retentive girlfriend. Carter's character doesn't have enough depth for her to really shine in this movie, and Koteas and Martin do not make a believable pair of brothers at all. But, the biggest problem with the film is the weakness and indecisiveness of the script. It can't figure out whether it wants to be a vehicle for Martin, a black comedy, or a serious mystery. It actually glosses over all of those bases as it makes its way along. Add to that the fact that the major plot points are based around Sangster's male stupidity (read "thinking with his willy"), that you just want to smack him and let him get what he deserves.

The DVD is fairly bland, providing us with some fairly mediocre special features. Both of the featurettes are nothing more than the average par-for-the-course stuff you can expect on pretty much any decent DVD these days. The "Making of" documentary really is mostly just the cast and crew blowing smoke up each other's skirts. The only one who doesn't seem to take it that seriously is Martin, whose dry wit really spices it up--but even that is not enough to make the whole thing even vaguely interesting. The other featurette is a really boring look at the otherwise exciting and dramatic world of forensic dentistry. Need I say more?

None of the deleted scenes seem to have any relation to the plot of the movie whatsoever--so we're pleased they got cut. Easter eggs on the disc are a bit odd, featuring more deleted scenes that are totally irrelevant, a storyboard-to-film comparison, and some outtakes that relate to a certain stuffed member of the cast (I can't tell you more without giving away too much of the movie). The director's commentary track is surprisingly fairly decent. Atkins is allowed to tell us the stuff that he was not able to bring out during the film--so it's worth a listen to.

However, even with this array of stuff, it's just not enough to make me even want to recommend it as a rental. Let's just let it pass silently out of our memories, shall we?