It’s hard to write an original action movie. How different can car chases really be? And hasn’t a fight in a restaurant kitchen been done countless times already? Action movies can be a lot of fun, but creating a truly good story with action can be really tough. To make something original, you have to go beyond what the action is and look at the people in the story: What drives them? What was their call to action? And why do we even care?

Novocaine is a new action film with a twist. The hero doesn’t have any special training, and doesn’t have the demeanor of serious action stars like Dwayne Johnson or Jason Statham. It does have Jack Quaid starring as Nathan Caine, a mild-mannered assistant bank manager who was born with a genetic disease: he can’t physically feel anything, literally. He plays life safe because he knows that he can step on a nail and not know until his shoe fills up with blood that he’s injured, and drinks only liquid because he could be biting into his own tongue when chewing and not feel it.

And that’s the twist – an action film where the hero feels no pain.

For screenwriters who love action movies and want to write an original, entertaining script, here are 5 screenwriting takeaways from Novocaine.

1. Who is Nathan Caine?

Don’t assume that the audience has seen the trailer or have been told anything about the movie. In fact, as a screenwriter, you have to figure that the reader only scanned a one-sentence logline. Therefore, you have to find a creative way to explain who your lead character is before they take a step on their journey.

In the first scene of the movie, Caine is seen turning on the shower, but there is a spot where the lever stops. Then he drinks a smoothie. Finally, he’s at the bank in which his desk has tennis balls on the corner. The viewer doesn’t know the reason for all these, and it won’t be until he goes on a lunch date that he confesses what’s going on with his life.

During this lunch he explains his genetic disorder about not feeling anything physical: protective parents, rough childhood as he was bullied because they could beat him up and he didn’t feel pain, and he plays things safe.

Now the screenwriter could take two turns: Caine is good or Caine is evil. The evil version might be something similar to Samuel L. Jackson’s character in Unbreakable who turned evil because of his brittleness. But Caine longs to be good, which we see when he interacts with a bank customer facing foreclosure.

Writers can see how character development really plays a role in establishing why the audience wants to cheer for the protagonist.

2. Set the Rules of your world

What does it feel like to feel no pain? The audience first sees this when Sherry (Amber Midthunder) comes up from behind Caine when he’s pouring coffee and jolts him – he spills scalding hot liquid on his hand but barely flinches other than knowing he needs to clean it up. Then in the next scene he’s putting a burn lotion on his hand.

This sets the rules of the universe where the movie takes place. Caine doesn’t feel any pain, so the audience now knows that he can use his disability to his advantage. It also gives the screenwriter plenty of freedom to design set pieces different from regular fight or action scenes. A punch may physically injure Caine, but he won’t feel it.

Setting up rules sets up expectations. This is important especially if you’re deviating from “normal” life. Mickey 17 establishes rules and expectations in the first scenes that the title character is reprinted after death, and Barbie showed the playful life in which Barbie lives, including showering with no water and floating down from the top floor to the front yard. These all created a reality in which characters live and the audience can accept.

Amber Midthunder  in 'Novocaine'

3. The Importance of B Stories

Caine’s story is not the only one going on in the movie. The inciting incident that sends the movie into a fast-paced action film is a bank robbery followed with the thieves kidnapping Sherry (no spoilers, it’s in the trailer). Caine pursues the robbers in a desperate attempt to find the only woman who he has fallen for.

This sets up a few storylines that move away from Caine. One is the robbers and Sherry. They’re in hiding until their getaway boat arrives in the evening. It’s within this B story that the audience learns more about the thieves and their lives, and where a few twists and turns take place that Caine doesn’t know about.

Another B story is about the two detectives in charge of finding the robbers and the money they stole. We get a glimpse into their lives and how they investigate crimes, providing information about the criminals and their pursuit of Caine.

There are examples where the lead character is in almost every scene of the movie, but B stories can follow a separate character’s journey within the same world as the main story. It can also be a tracking device providing necessary background information about our main character. Learn more about B stories.

4. No Skills, No Problem

Liam Neeson launched the action career of many aging male stars with the quote, “What I do have are a very particular set of skills. Skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you.”

And so, the era of vengeful action films like Nobody, John Wick and The Equalizer started with skillful, well-trained heroes fighting their way through any number of bad guys. But Caine in Novocaine has no skills. He’s actually gone through life being the nice guy and avoiding conflict.

But what the John Wicks and the Caines have in common is an edge. Whether they know it ahead of time, realize it in their first fight or even learn that the Force is within them, it’s up to the screenwriter to know what edge their hero has and how they can exploit it to win.

Jack Quaid in 'Novocaine'

5. Get Creative with the Fight Scenes

The fight scenes in Novocaine are inventive, fun and exciting. Caine gets to use his “super power” to fight off menacing bad guys who normally use their strength and weapons with success. But they’re fighting Caine who can shove his hands into broken glass and shred people up like Wolverine, or grab a gun in a boiling fryer and shoot someone rushing in to kill him - this takes the familiar restaurant kitchen fight scene and turns it on its head. In fact, he even gets shot in the arm and doesn’t realize it until his battle is completed.

What screenwriters can take away from these fight scenes is the importance of leaning on creativity. It’s okay to have a familiar fight location or chase, but how can you make it original?

The action movie with a twist will have more to do with who your main characters are and less to do with action set pieces. Think about Lethal Weapon, in which one of the two detectives is suicidal, and who will jump off a building after handcuffing himself to a jumper instead of talking him down. Or The Rock, where one character is a 60+ year old spy and the other is a lab technician with no combat experience having to take on Marines. These characters, like Nathan Caine, are what make the action movies original and exciting.