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Violence can be funny, particularly when it’s executed with rhythm and comedic timing. This isn’t news; as much as Deadpool may be the crown prince of gleeful gore, the Three Stooges knew plenty about whimsically timed mayhem.

The new comedy, “Novocaine,” a gleeful action spoof starring Jack Quaid and Amber Midthunder, is a feature-length exploration of this principle. Nathan Caine (Quaid) is a mild-mannered bank manager with a rare disorder called congenital insensitivity to pain; he literally cannot feel things that hurt. So, when a new flame (Midthunder) is kidnapped by bank robbers, he rushes into action with the confidence that their worst efforts won’t affect him.

Unless, of course, they kill him. Up to that point, though, he won’t feel a thing.

There’s a twist or two to get the movie to feature length (and in an attempt to avoid accusations of a straight damsel-in-distress plot), but the aim is clear. We are here to move from one fight scene to the next, during which Caine can deadpan reactions to horrific blows and stammer through dishing out awkward retribution.

Quaid — who has been miscast as a straight villain in movies including this year’s “Companion” and the 2022 “Scream” — is up to the task, with just the right amount of aw-shucks charm to make his pratfalls satisfying and his moments of action-hero triumph exciting. Midthunder is an excellent foil; Ray Nicholson, as the leader of the bank robbers, knows how to play the grinning antagonist (and effectively deploys the expressive eyebrows he inherited from his father).

It all works … mostly.

There is a big problem with “Novocaine,” and it arises when the film goes for genuine sympathy. The key to comedically deployed injury is a lack of consequence; we knew that Curly would recover from Moe whacking him over the head, just as we know that Deadpool’s limbs will grow back.

Unfortunately, a good number of innocent bystanders die in “Novocaine,” often by decidedly un-funny methods. Paramedics, cops, fellow bank employees — they’re gunned down with frequency. The film seems to want us to feel something when this happens. It wants to stab its cake and eat it, too.

That makes for an occasionally dissonant experience. It doesn’t overwhelm the film; there’s too much humor and fun to be ruined by tonal concerns, and I’d recommend it to those with a tolerance for the gruesome stuff. I just might have let a few more extras survive the carnage.

My Rating: 6/10

“Novocaine” opens in theaters on March 14.