Chris Evans is sensational and delivers a tour de force as an arrogant and suave Casanova who abuses the American Dream. Evans masterfully crawls under the skin of a flawed egotist, an overbearing but sensitive underdog Houston lawyer and a functioning drug addict who goes to extreme lengths to expose a powerful and corrupt pharmaceutical conspiracy and take on heavyweight attorneys who move in on the defence.
Evans is remarkable as he buffs up his dramatic potential as an actor and sheds the lightweight and wholesome boy-next-door image; his spirited performance is powerful as he commands attention and receives an empathetic response to a character that is nasty and mean spirited.
In Puncture, Mike Weiss (Evans) is a talented young Houston lawyer and a functioning drug addict. Paul Danziger (co-director Mark Kassen), his long-time friend and partner, is the straight-laced and responsible yin to Mike's yang. Their mum-and-dad personal injury law firm is getting by, but things really get interesting when they decide to take on a case involving Vicky (Vinessa Shaw), a local ER nurse, who is pricked by a contaminated needle on the job.
As Weiss and Danziger dig deeper into the case, a health care and pharmaceutical conspiracy teeters on exposure and heavyweight attorneys move in on the defence.
Out of their league, but invested in their own principles, the mounting pressure of the case pushes the two underdog lawyers and their business to the breaking point.
Puncture powerfully exposes how the spread of deadly viruses is compromised by greed - and how this causes a tragic and unfortunate dilemma.
Fortunately, brothers and directors Mark and Adam Kassen (who also wrote the screenplay) bring this real-life story to the screen with all the urgency and passion of the subjects themselves. The Kassens never exploit the subject matter, but skilfully use the film medium to showcase their extraordinary visual sensibility, which illuminates their potent script.
The film focuses on a character whose ego is fed by drugs and whose insatiable desire spirals downward into a soul-destroying black hole and destructive identity crisis.
Anyone who has ever been a slave to addiction or subjected to its destructive power will be able to relate to its emotional honesty and passionate delivery.
As with films like Aronofsky's Requiem For A Dream, Puncture is a heart-rending and tender view into a subject matter that is often misunderstood or misinterpreted.
Make sure to see Puncture. It's a hard-hitting film that dares to remain true to its telling and one you will remember long after leaving the cinema.
It's most definitely one of those rare cinematic experiences that will change your view on controversial issues and unsavoury characters that fall outside your comfort zone.
Rating 5/5
Brothers Adam and Mark Kassen co-produced and co-directed Puncture, bringing this real-life story to the screen with all the urgency and passion of the subjects themselves. The result is an effective issue-driven drama that finds its footing in a contemporary David and Goliath story. Said Mark Kassen: "Adam and I are focused primarily on the movie's mission and the more it can get out there we hope it will connect to a larger conversation." Adam commented: "We're not investigative reporters; this is a film, not a documentary. It is entertainment. But we hope that it has a larger message. We hope people will watch it as entertainment and then start a conversation afterwards."
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