Puncture, from 2011, is based on a true story though the basic plot is a familiar one, David vs. Goliath.
It's the story of the law firm of Weiss and Danziger, who go up against United Medical, a medical supply company, and its big attorneys. They have shut out the retractable safety needle invented by Jeffrey Miller Dancort. This needle would protect health workers against AIDS, hepatitis, and other infections, but the company feels they're too expensive to produce.
Weiss and Danziger find out that the medical supply system is immensely powerful, and all routes are closed to them as they try to give their fight some traction.
Weiss and Danziger couldn't be more different -- Weiss is a drug addict and Danziger is a husband with a baby on the way. Danziger wants to drop the case when they can't get another law firm with deeper pockets to go in with them, but Weiss is determined to see it through.
This is a powerful story, so the material somewhat carries a film that could have and should have been better than it is. It moves slowly in sections, and I found the ending somewhat unsatisfying. As someone else said, there are two stories that needed to converge and somehow, they didn't. Chris Evans does an excellent job as Michael Weiss, a man who, despite his drug addiction, is actually quite passionate about the case, whereas Danziger is more practical. As hotshot attorney Nathaniel Price, Brett Cullen is very good. The rest of the acting was okay - Evans and Cullen had the best roles.
If this film had been in more experienced hands, it could have been another Erin Brockovich. It's still worth seeing.
It's the story of the law firm of Weiss and Danziger, who go up against United Medical, a medical supply company, and its big attorneys. They have shut out the retractable safety needle invented by Jeffrey Miller Dancort. This needle would protect health workers against AIDS, hepatitis, and other infections, but the company feels they're too expensive to produce.
Weiss and Danziger find out that the medical supply system is immensely powerful, and all routes are closed to them as they try to give their fight some traction.
Weiss and Danziger couldn't be more different -- Weiss is a drug addict and Danziger is a husband with a baby on the way. Danziger wants to drop the case when they can't get another law firm with deeper pockets to go in with them, but Weiss is determined to see it through.
This is a powerful story, so the material somewhat carries a film that could have and should have been better than it is. It moves slowly in sections, and I found the ending somewhat unsatisfying. As someone else said, there are two stories that needed to converge and somehow, they didn't. Chris Evans does an excellent job as Michael Weiss, a man who, despite his drug addiction, is actually quite passionate about the case, whereas Danziger is more practical. As hotshot attorney Nathaniel Price, Brett Cullen is very good. The rest of the acting was okay - Evans and Cullen had the best roles.
If this film had been in more experienced hands, it could have been another Erin Brockovich. It's still worth seeing.