Steve Martin darkens his usual screwball comic persona for Novocaine, playing a suburban dentist implicated in drugs and murder charges in a noir-tinged comedy thriller which turns increasingly Hitchcockian as it unfolds. Helena Bonham Carter's femme fatale, Laura Dern's dental assistant and Kevin Bacon's hilarious cameo appearance lend extra clout to a patchy but commendably accomplished feature debut from writer-director David Atkins.
Steve Martin is dentist Robert Sangster trapped in a too safe relationship with his hygienist (Laura Dern). When he takes a walk on the wild side with drug-dealing patient Susan Ivey (Helena Bonham Carter), Sangster's pharmaceutical supplies are pilfered and Ivey's psychopathic brother and the police send his life into tailspin. A laboured attempt to reinvigorate an increasingly tired-looking Martin.
