"Novocaine"

As tempting as it is to start by comparing watching �Novocaine� to what Dustin Hoffman suffered at the hands of Sir Lawrence Oliver in �Marathon Man,� let�s instead consider Gus Van Sant.

Writer-director David Atkins had every chance to create an effective, entertaining amalgam of Van Sant�s seedy, unnerving �Drug Store Cowboy� and darkly humorous �To Die For.� Instead, he has delivered a cast of unremarkable and undeveloped characters champing their way through 95 minutes of mostly uninteresting and unfunny plot points.

Steve Martin plays Dr. Frank Sangster, a dentist with the following: a personality as bland as unwaxed floss; a successful suburban practice; an anal-retentive, incredulously coifed hygienist fianc�e (Laura Dern); a vagabond brother (Elias Koteas); an unhealthy -- if not oral -- fixation on a junkie (Helena Bonham Carter); and a heisted fridge of narcotics. Such are the basic ingredients of �Novocaine,� which, despite several chuckles, lacks the teeth to make any lasting impression.

Martin�s usually earnest and clever delivery is unable to extract the wishy-washy Sangster character from its banal roots. Carter, best known for �corset films� (read: English period pieces), had the richest character material to mine but came up with little more than a stock angst-ridden little-girl-lost. For her part, Dern served noir and comedy aficionados far better with her work in David Lynch�s �Blue Velvet� and �Wild At Heart.� To make matters worse, running references to lying and sunflowers will allow savvy moviegoers to figure out how it�s all going to end long before it mercifully does.

Atkins� career took a giant leap forward with his screenwriting debut, 1993�s �Arizona Dream,� but has stumbled three steps back with �Novocaine.� Considering that the funniest moment comes during the credits -- when it�s revealed that three dental consultants worked on the film -- it will be interesting to see if Atkins will be able to rinse, spit and come up smiling on his next project.