Puncture | Film review

NEEDLE IN THE WAY Evans gets the monkey off his back.

As summer turns to fall, stars turn into serious actors and comic-book heroes turn into junkies. In July’s Captain America, drugs transformed Chris Evans into a supersoldier. In this week’s Puncture, drugs reduce Evans to a barely functioning addict. He plays Mike Weiss, a lawyer struggling with multiple substance-abuse issues and a crumbling practice. Mike takes on a class-action lawsuit against hospitals that refuse to stock safety needles—syringes designed to prevent accidental needle sticks. Health providers’ professional safety is an important issue, the film reminds us 600 million times. Thankfully, Evans’s twitchy, soulful performance provides piquant counterpoint to the film’s constant insistence on its own self-importance. He keeps Puncture from overdosing on righteous indignation.