Mike Weiss (Chris Evans) is a highly functioning drug addict who is a lawyer in Houston.  He is a partner in a law firm with Paul Danzigier (co-director Mark Kassen).   He meets a former ER nurse Vicky, who was accidentally stuck by a needle while helping an AIDS patient in the ER.   Mike and his partner get drawn into a case involving a safety needle company that can't sell it's safer needles to hospitals due to a needle manufacturer that has exclusive contracts with hospitals across the United States.  They start a lawsuit to get those safety needles into hospitals as they face an uphill battle involving bribery, breaking anti-trust laws, and politics.  

Directed by Adam Kassen and Mark Kassen, PUNCTURE is an important film.   Chris Evans gives the best performance of his career in this moving drama about an underdog lawyer that doesn't know when to quit.  PUNCTURE is based on a true story as two lawyers fight to make things safer for nurses who face accidental needle punctures (which could expose them to diseases like HIV, AIDS, Herpes,and other infectous diseases) in hospitals over the years.   Mike has struggles with his own demons including even getting clean at one point so he could prepare to testify before Congress (you have to watch the movie to see how it turns out).   His partner wants to quit several times because the law firm is struggling and he worries for his pregnant wife.   Big money pushes back because they don't want to change things and make less money.

 

SPECIAL FEATURES:

A digital copy fo the film and previews for other millennium Entertainment releases are the only extras.  I wish they had an audio commentary or a featurette about the real case the film is based on.

 

FINAL ANALYSIS:  PUNCTURE is a moving lawyer drama which is as much about the case as it is about a lawyer who struggles with being a drug user.   Chris Evans gives a performance better than the one in CAPTAIN AMERICA.  One of the best films from 2011 you should watch on DVD because you probably missed it in theaters.

 

this DVD review is (c)1-7-2012 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted iwthout permission.  send all comments to feedback@enterline-meida.com