Puncture 2011

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: This true-life film is a likable oddity: a rambling, low-budget Erin Brockovich with a cokehead hero. Read more

Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times: [It] possesses all the right ingredients: an idealistic young lawyer, a corrupt corporate villain and a sympathetic victim. It just fails to assemble them into a compelling whole. Read more

David Fear, Time Out: It's Weiss's sheer gonzo energy and his determination to keep it together (barely) in the name of justice that initially fuel this underdog tale... Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: "Puncture" has the unusual problem of being almost too intriguing; its based-on-true-events story seems to cry out for documentary treatment. Read more

Tasha Robinson, AV Club: There's something perverse about the ultra-conventional way directors/brothers Adam and Mark Kassen handle their unconventional material in the based-on-a-true-story drama Puncture. Read more

Ethan Gilsdorf, Boston Globe: "Puncture'' is based on an actual court case. But is this a story best served by focusing on the legal battle or the arc of Mike's flawed hero? Read more

Andrea Gronvall, Chicago Reader: It's a thoughtful entry in the growing subgenre of whistle-blower dramas. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: Does a commendable job of merging its David vs. Goliath elements with Weiss' personal problems, doing justice to the fact that "Puncture" is based on true people and an actual case. Read more

Kirk Honeycutt, Hollywood Reporter: The film is chock-a-block with extraordinary performances and no one will fault the filmmaking either. This is a well-made movie, make no mistake. It just suffers from a dysfunctional hero. Read more

Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times: The picture benefits from its performances, notably Evans' roguish appeal as a guy simultaneously driven and destructive. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: Evans is an electrifying presence, working overtime to save the day. Read more

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: "Puncture" presents a compelling story, but it's also difficult to sympathize with Evans' doomed main character, no matter how vividly he's acted. Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: Like any good cautionary tale, Puncture tells a suspenseful story responsibly, creating food for thought and leaving the audience both enlightened and entertained. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: Electrifying in the role, Evans reminds me of other great out-of-control druggies played by Al Pacino and Nicolas Cage. Read more

Ronnie Scheib, Variety: Working from a fact-based script, tyro helmers Adam and Mark Kassen fashion an impassioned expose on the health-care industry full of strange-but-true incongruities in Puncture. Read more

Nick Pinkerton, Village Voice: Puncture is proudly "Based on a True Story." As is so often the case, this means an indifference to "true" human relationships in favor of crusading self-righteousness. Read more

Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post: Evans works so hard to look like a drug addict that it undermines the character's effort not to look like one. Read more