Dr Frank Sangster (Martin) is a dentist. His life is pretty boring, but he's doing well for himself. That is, until he meets Susan Ivey (Bonham Carter). Not long after she seduces him and persuades him to prescribe her drugs, Frank finds himself a suspect in the murder of Susan's brother. Soon enough everything begins to spiral out of control, and Frank finds out that no one is what he seems.

Like The Man Who Wasn't There, Novocaine is a film making a return to traditional film noir approaches to storytelling. Composed narratives, a protagonist constantly being brought down by his vulnerabilities, and a mysterious dame leading the intrigue. Hoorah!, I say.

Novocaine is such a black comedy that many viewers don't consider it a comedy. I guess you need to be a bit twisted to laugh at people being maliciously manipulated and many of the subtle ironies of Novocaine. Don't see Novocaine expecting the same Steve Martin you remember from The Jerk, Parenthood, Bowfinger, etc. Novocaine is a very different film indeed: a good film for warped minds.

Heist is very much a David Mamet film. Whether that's a good or a bad thing depends on what you think of his other recent films. They're not for people who don't like sharp, fast, and often profane dialogue, for one thing, and Heist is no different. Hackman, Lindo, Jay, and Pidgeon star as jewel thieves coerced by the despicable Bergman (DeVito) into pulling off a seemingly impossible heist before they get paid for their previous job. Bergman's decision to have his nephew Jimmy oversee the operation creates tension within the group and sets the scene for surprises and betrayals. The twist-upon-twist-upon-twist structure of the film can get tiresome, and some of the dialogue is not as clever as Mamet would have us believe ((mdash)) in short, this is not Mamet at his best ((mdash)) but below-average Mamet is still very good cinema.