Novocaine (2001)

Directed by David Atkins. Starring Steve Martin, Helena Bonham Carter, Laura Dern, Elias Koteas, Scott Caan, Lynne Thigpen, Kevin Bacon, Chelcie Ross, David Keith, Preston Maybank. [R]

Nothing really works in this off-center black comedy of a mild-mannered and successful dentist (Martin), whose attraction to a dark-eyed mystery woman (Carter) draws him into a world of deceit, fraud, larceny, drug-dealing, and, eventually, murder. The twisty material probably looked good on the page, but the direction is limp, the actors lack conviction, and the characters they play behave in illogical ways, slaves to the requirements of the plot. Its efforts to fuse gallows humor with quirky character comedy results in far too few amusing bits, and rather than complementing the mystery and thriller elements, they all undermine each other instead. At a glance, a refreshing change of pace for Martin, who spent most of the 90s in safe, bland comic vehicles, but if you want to see him play a dentist in a movie that has a sadistic streak, stick with Little Shop of Horrors. Portraying an actor pretending to be a detective as role research, Bacon went unbilled.

41/100