Film Review: Disappointing ‘Puncture’ With Chris Evans Doesn’t Stick

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Rating: 2.5/5.0

CHICAGO – There’s something about “Puncture” that feels like it should work. It’s easy to see why someone thought this true tale of a troubled man who realizes he has been presented with immense responsibility would make an engaging film, but the fact is that having an interesting true story doesn’t always translate to riveting drama. Despite the interesting facts of the legal and personal drama at its core, “Puncture” is surprisingly flat (no pun intended) and, even with a very-good lead performance, isn’t memorable enough to recommend.

Chris Evans does career-best work as Mike Weiss, a small-town attorney who just started a practice with his good buddy Paul Danziger (Mark Kassen). Their little firm struggles to make ends meet by taking horrible personal injury cases and occasionally getting tossed an interesting potential settlement from a buddy (Jesse L. Martin) at a major firm. Paul has a pregnant wife who he is concerned about supporting but Mike has more significant personal problems like intense hardcore drug addiction and infidelity that leads to his wife pulling a gun on him at a party and leaving him.

Read Brian Tallerico’s full review of “Puncture” in our reviews section.

Weiss and Danziger stumble into the case of their lives when they meet a sick nurse named Vicky (Vinessa Shaw) and a medical supplier named Jeffrey Dancort (Marshall Bell). Vicky was stuck by a contaminated needle a few years back and she’s going to die because of it. Like so many nurses do every year due to needle sticks that could be prevented through the use of an amazing new needle designed by Dancort. The one-time-use needle retracts after usage and would not only save the lives of thousands of health care professionals but revolutionize third-world countries where needle re-usage is a major cause of the spread of disease. The problem is that some very powerful people make a lot of money on the current needle design and they don’t want people to know about the new technology.

Can Mike prove that major companies have kept a safety precaution under wraps for the almighty dollar while people died? Can he keep his own personal demons at bay while he goes through a case that would not only change his life but possibly thousands of others? Can the little guy tackle big business if the little guy is a junkie? It’s clearly material that’s rich for an engaging, inspirational drama, but “Puncture” can’t find its tone and writer Chris Lopata and directors Adam & Mark Kassen never give the piece the energy it needs to connect.

Continue reading for Brian Tallerico’s full “Puncture” review.

Puncture
Photo credit: Millennium Pictures