Review – Novocaine

Will someone please tell Steve Martin that we take him seriously? Even if it’s a lie, at least we stand a chance of talking him out of making any more movies like this. The awkward blend of serious stuff and goofy shtick is especially nettlesome in this picture, because it interferes with the audience’s ability to tell the difference between something that’s intended to be a murder mystery clue and something that’s intended to be a dumb joke. Martin plays a dentist who gets wrapped up in a string of misadventures after he cheats on his girlfriend (Laura Dern) with a quirky woman (Helena Bonham Carter) who’s stealing drugs from him. On top of the Martin problem, this is also one of those annoying pictures in which the protagonist can put an end to his woes at almost any point in the drama by simply telling the truth. On the other hand, the weird X-ray footage was cool. See if desperate