Many people decry how America has become overly litigious, with people hoping to sue large corporations for pay-offs over small offenses or lapses in their own common sense, but on some level the legal system is still functioning to defend what’s right. Or at least, it’s still trying to. In the case of Mike Weiss, an attorney by day and a heroin addict by night, the legal system was pushed to its limit to find justice in a field where medical monopolies brought all attempts to do so to a standstill. The complicated nature of Mike Weiss’s pursuit, as told in Puncture, definitely has an air of politics and capitalistic agenda attached to it, but more importantly it’s the story of a flawed human being attempting to do the right thing no matter the cost to himself. That he manages to tackle such an endeavor whilst in the grip of a heroin addiction, even using that environment to his advantage at times, makes the story of Puncture all the better.
Mike Weiss (Evans) and Paul Danziger (Mark Kassen) run a small law firm that barely manages to stay afloat by taking low-level clients and contracting with other, larger firms. They work hard for the people they represent, and the stress takes its toll on both men in different ways. Mike has since acquired an expensive although contained heroin habit, but not until their latest client has their work required the duo to be consistently on their game. Their latest case sees them helping a man who has invented a safety syringe with a needle that recedes inside after being used; the implications of such an invention are astounding when all of the medical expenses associated with accidental needle pricks within the doctor and nurse ranks are taken into account. Yet hospitals are reluctant to use the new needles due to contracts with medical supply companies that don’t see the fiscal wisdom (on their behalf) to restructure production lines and pay the slightly higher cost required to produce the new needle. The inventor of the safety needle entrusts Weiss and Danziger with his case after they approach him following the hospitalization of a nurse stuck by a normal plastic syringe.
What neither Weiss nor Danziger could have known was how deep the safety syringe rabbit hole would go. Before long, the case begins to consume all of their time and threatens to take their small company into bankruptcy. It’s a suit that the world needs them to win, but the question of whether or not they’re the team to make that happen soon arises. With Weiss’s heroin habit becoming an increasingly prominent liability, the allies that should step in to help win the day hesitate to take action. Mike Weiss quickly finds himself alone but entirely devoted to the cause, no matter how long it might take to win it.
Chris Evans continues to prove himself a talented actor both in comedies and dramas. Though he started with a pitch perfect comedic performance as the brash and egotistical Johnny Storm in an ill-conceived Fantastic Four adaptation, he’s since gone on to flex his dramatic muscles. And every time he seems to hit it out of the park. Puncture easily ranks as his most nuanced role to date and he has plenty of opportunities within the film’s 100-minute runtime to showcase a rollercoaster of emotions. This isn’t the Chris Evans people are used to seeing, but Puncture is all the better for it.
Blu-ray Bonus Features
Though the back of the case boasts ambiguously titled “bonus materials”, there’s not a single thing on the disc beyond trailers for a few other films. Considering Mike Weiss’s story and the impact it could have down the road, you’d think there would be a lot more that could be said in featurettes and production pieces. Sadly, we get nothing, and it makes this Blu-ray release a bit disappointing once the credits roll.
"Puncture" is on sale January 3, 2012 and is rated R. Drama. Directed by Adam Kassen, Mark Kassen. Written by Chris Lopata. Starring Chris Evans, Mark Kassen.
