By D.M. Bradley
“There are certain scripts that you read, and when I really respond to a character, I find myself standing up and starting to do the lines,” Chris Evans told Collider. “Puncture was one of those scripts that, right away, I got on my feet and started trying to play him. When that happens, I just think, ‘Man, I’ve got to play this guy.’”
The debut feature from director/producers, Adam and Mark Kassen, the based-on-a-true-story drama, Puncture, might be a little earnest, but this is unquestionably a story that deserves to be told, and it boasts a bravura turn from Chris Evans, who made this low budget indie just before he pulled on the stars-and-stripes for Captain America: The First Avenger. Set in 1998, Evans plays Mike Weiss, a respected lawyer who seems to be at the top of his game but is, in fact, a junkie facing divorce with a taste for hookers and seedy clients. When he and his long-suffering business partner, Paul Danziger (played by co-director, Mark Kassen), become involved in the case of Vicky (Eyes Wide Shut’s Vinessa Shaw), an ER nurse stuck with a contaminated needle and infected with HIV, they discover that a “safety point” syringe isn’t being allowed in hospitals due to a massive conspiracy between hospital buyers and purchasing organisations. Weiss (whose reckless lifestyle is shown in sensationalist detail) becomes passionate about this enormous lawsuit to the point that he risks his professional reputation, and even his life, to win the case.
Approved of by the real life Paul Danziger, Puncture is occasionally heavy-handed, but is highly recommended for the powerful performance by Chris Evans, who looks sicker and sleazier than he ever has as Captain America (or even The Human Torch), and manages to create more sympathy for a lawyer than you’d ever believe possible. “This couldn’t be further away from Steve Rogers and the Captain America movies,” Evans told Moviefone. “They are very different people.”
