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When
I first heard of Novocaine, I didn't know what to expect.
I was immediately intrigued by the prospect of a dark comedy
about a dentist. But then I read on to see that the star was
Steve Martin. Now don't get me wrong, Steve Martin is the man.
He is, in fact, one of the funniest and coolest people to ever
grace the silver screen with his presence. But Steve Martin in a
dark comedy? I had my doubts. I had to put my doubts aside
though, because Steve Martin is a very versatile actor.
Another
factor that enhanced my excitement was the fact that Helena
Bonham Carter (Fight
Club) was the other star. She rocks. She's a great
actress, she's been in lots of cool movies, and she's hot
(people who like her for that last reason are in for a treat in Novocaine).
Anyways,
I was blessed with the chance to see this movie. Let's start
with the crazy plot. Steve Martin plays a normal dentist with a
successful practice. He works with his fiancé at his side, as
she is his assistant hygienist. His only downfall is his
brother, who is a drug addict burn out who mooches off of him
for money and shelter.
Everything
is going fine when one day when our dentist hero, Dr. Frank
Sangster is smitten by a new patient named Susan Ivy (Helena
Bonham Carter). She uses his weakness to convince him to give
her pain-killers.
From
here, all hell breaks loose. Everything that could go wrong does
go wrong, and then some more stuff goes wrong, too. Sangster's
perfect life is falling apart.
I
can't reveal anymore or else I will ruin some of the greatest
storytelling ever. David Atkins, the director and writer,
stylishly melds the appropriate dentists office X-ray with real
live footage for a creepy effect. The screen wipes run across
the screen like an X-ray machine lamp or a heat scanner, giving
the movie the creepy dentists office feel, even when they are
not in the office.
The
screenplay is extremely well written. So much, in fact, there is
never a boring or unnecessary moment. Every moment is key
to your enjoyment and will leave you feeling shocked, taut, and
focused... yet giggling uncontrollably.
The
soundtrack is just as amazing. The theme is heavy guitar riffs
over creepy medical sounds composed by..... DANNY ELFMAN!
Absolutely nothing bad can be said about this
movie. It is the perfect dark comedy. Perfect.
Not
only am I eager to see more from the actors, but I am also eager
to see more from the director, and of course I will be checking
this flick out again as soon as possible.
I
know that I am usually giving movies overly high ratings, but as
I said, this movie is flawless. Based on that, and the fact that
I am a sucker for dark comedies, I must bless this movie with a ten.
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