Jack Quaid’s action-comedy “ Novocaine ” topped a painfully slow weekend at the box office with $8.7 million. For theater owners, however, there’s not too much to celebrate: It’s one of the worst debuts to still capture the No. 1 spot (at least since the pandemic ground moviegoing to a halt).

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.

Actor Jack Quaid stars as a man who can't feel pain in "Novocaine," a new action film that opens in theaters Friday. Quaid, known for his role as Hughie in the hit series "The Boys," plays Nathan Cain,