Marvel star Chris Evans (Captain America, Fantastic Four) is taking on a somewhat weightier role in the upcoming lawyer drama Puncture. But if the film’s new trailer is any indication, Evans’s bad-boy persona is still part of his appeal. Evans plays Mike Weiss, an unconventional but successful Houston lawyer who is a functioning drug addict. Paul Danziger (played by Mark Kassen, who served as a producer and director of the film along with his brother Adam), is his by-the-book, responsible foil and the other partner in their small personal injury firm.
When the pair take on a case representing an ER nurse pricked by a contaminated syringe, they find themselves up against a ruthless team of attorneys and a likely conspiracy involving a powerful pharmaceutical company and the health care industry.
Based on a true story, the film had the blessing of real-life Weiss and Danziger, who were approached by an inventor who had trouble selling a safety syringe he had developed to protect healthcare workers from accidentally being infected by dirty needles. The two lawyers discovered that a major industry needle maker and a combine of hospital group purchasing organizations had been successful in pushing back against the introduction of the new, safer syringes.
The Kassens see the film as a breakout opportunity for Evans to showcase his acting ability beyond superheroes. While Weiss is certainly grittier than the Human Torch or Captain America, we’d like to see Evans in a role that required less attitude and more nuance.
Puncture debuted this spring at the Tribeca Film Festival, and will be released September 23 in New York, Los Angeles and Houston en route to video by Millennium Entertainment.
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