Unlike a lot of movie fans, I typically don't watch movies to see certain actors -- I'm usually more interested in who's behind the camera. However, a quick check of IMDB.com shows that I've seen 15 movies in Chris Evans has appeared. I don't seek out his movies (although the same can't be said of my wife, who has a crush on Evans), but he apparently appears in movies in which I'm interested. Throughout those movies, I've seen him play heroic and comedic, and often a combination of the two, with a hint of dramatic thrown in in a few titles. That's what makes Puncture interesting, as it features Evans in full-on dramatic. role.

Evans stars in Puncture as Mike Weiss, a Houston-based personal injury attorney who is in a firm with his partner and friend Paul Danziger (Mark Kassen). However, Mike wants to be more than just an "ambulance chaser" and is very passionate about his work, often brainstorming late into the night. He gets wind of a nurse who was stuck with a hypodermic needle at work and contracted HIV. She is interested in filing a class-action lawsuit against the hospital, as her friend, Jeffrey Dancourt (Marshall Bell), has invented a safety-needle which prevents needle sticks. Mike and Paul visit Dancourt and learn that he's taken the needle to hundreds of hospitals, all of whom have refused to buy it. As they dig deeper, they begin to find traces of a monopoly and a conspiracy, and the case looks like it could be huge. However, two complications arise -- first of all, the powers behind the conspiracy begin to thwart their actions, and secondly, Mike is a drug addict and his behavior is about to catch up with him.

Puncture is based on a true story (and a quick internet search shows that the story is fairly accurately portrayed, so this isn't one of those movies where "based on" is a stretch) and docudramas must make a choice -- are they going to be about a situation or a specific person. Puncture tries to buck the trend by straddling that line and doing both. Unfortunately that means that certain parts of the film suffer.

The central story in Puncture is very interesting, and I have to say, I've worked around the healthcare field for years, and I've never heard of the safety-needle, so I found the movie to be very intriguing. The basic structure of the story isn't all that different from other class action lawsuit movies that we've seen. The difference here are the attorneys involved. Movies like this usually involve a lawyer who has a change of heart and decides to do what's right. Puncture presents us with attorneys who begin the movie wanting to fight for the little guy. Predictably, the more powerful and well-financed lawyers use their power and connections to make things hard on Mike and Paul, but they don't (want to) give up. The story contains just enough setbacks to keep us guessing about what is going to happen.

Of course, the more interesting aspect of the movie is the Mike Weiss character. He is the definition of a functional addict, as he uses cocaine and heroin on a regular basis, while still excelling at his job. It's clear that Mike is very smart and clever, and he appears to be a master of parallel processing, as he gets his best ideas in the middle of the night (much to the chagrin of Paul and his wife, who must deal with Mike's late night phone calls). Mike is a complicated character. He's a good attorney who is covered in tattoos and uses illicit drugs. We shouldn't like him, but we can't help but admire his drive and his determination to help others. We know that Mike won't be able to balance his work and his addiction for long, and the fact that we like him makes this harder to watch.

The problem with Puncture is that we want to know more about Mike and the movie leaves a lot of questions unanswered, as it must move along with the lawsuit story. I learned from an online bio that Mike taught law (this is only hinted at in the movie) and that he had a distinguished education and internship background. We learned that Mike is married, but get nothing about their relationship. We see how and when Paul learns of Mike's drug problem, but we can't help but wonder how much of the what came before that was invented by the filmmakers (although Paul Danziger is credited as contributing to the story). This may all sound like nitpicking, but the lack of these details makes Mike a dynamic, interesting but incomplete character.

Puncture should appeal to John Grisham fans as it presents a story which is similar to one of his stories -- the difference here is that this really happened. The story could use more fleshing out and the middle definitely gets stuck in a "and then this happened to stymie Mike and Paul's work" loop of scenes. Still, the unique nature of the lawsuit and the sad plight of Mike's character make the movie worth watching.

Puncture made me wonder what Texas law on keeping large reptiles in the home was on Blu-ray Disc courtesy of Millennium Entertainment. The film has been letterboxed at 2.35:1 and the Disc contains an AVC 1080p HD transfer which runs at an average of 25 Mbps. The image is sharp and clear, showing only mild grain and no defects from the source material. The movie is a bit dark at times, but the colors look good, and the daytime scenes have a nice crispness to them. The image is detailed, but a few shots look soft. The depth is pretty good. The Disc carries a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 audio track which runs at 48 kHz and an average of 1.5 Mbps. The track provides clear dialogue and sound effects. The stereo effects are pretty good, as we get a sense of things happening off-screen. These effects are detailed and don't overpower the dialogue. The surround sound effects come from street sounds and things like airplane sound effects. I didn't note much in the way of subwoofer effects.

The Puncture Blu-ray Disc contains no extra features.