Nathan Caine may not be able to feel pain, as the tagline for the new action-comedy “Novocaine” reads, but the same does not apply to audiences. Although he doesn’t scream when his leg is impaled

For Dan Berk and Robert Olsen, the opening love story between Jack Quaid and Amber Midthunder was non-negotiable: “you’ve got to trust the audience here. This isn't a streaming movie.”

Quaid's leading role in Novocaine feels like a natural continuation of these genre-bent everymen. He plays Nathan Caine, a mild-mannered assistant bank manager who has congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis (CIPA), a genetic disorder that impacts his nervous system to the point that he can't feel pain or temperature.