Veronica Guerin

Veronica Guerin is a film about an Irish journalist who put a story ahead of the welfare of her child and husband, as well as above her own life. There are two primary views about her decisions in the film. One is that she was unbelievably courageous and really believed that good always overcomes evil. That justice will always prevail. That one sometimes has to sacrifice one's self for the good of the many. Veronica Guerin thought she could make a difference. She thought the police were doing everything they could to stop the drug trafficking in Dublin. This is the positive view. The other view is that Veronica Guerin was incredibly naive, careless, and insensitive to the needs of her child and husband. That she thought she was a police detective without a gun and was above reproach from criminals. And while the film paints a pretty picture of Dublin's and Ireland's police completely turning around its drug problem, nothing could be further from the truth. There is still a tremendous drug problem in Dublin and in all of Ireland, not to mention the rest of the world. Nothing has really changed. Like all wars, the victims of the War Against Drugs, or any other war, are soon forgotten after noble words at a funeral. That's when everyone goes back to their everyday lives. So which version of Veronica Guerin is correct? That decision would be up to the viewer. And why did Colin Farrell get billing on IMBD as a co-star? He was in the film for two minutes (or less). Talk about a disappearing career. Good movie, though.

I've been revaluing Joel Schumacher as a director for some years. I was used to think he was just a typical Hollywood movie maker. But I understood this man does commercial features whenever he needs money ("Batman forever", "Batman & Robin", "The client", "A time to kill"), as he gets it he manages to do good and more personal films.

In fact his mainstream movies are quite boring and mannered. Fortunately Schumacher is much better with more alternative or low-budget films ("Falling down", "Tigerland", "Phone booth"). "Veronica Guerin" belongs to this category.

I'm also happy, in this case, that a blockbuster producer like Jerry Bruckheimer manages not to spoil the movie with artificial tricks.

Veronica Guerin seems to me a symbol of Irish tragicalness. I mean, the tragicalness you can find in works of James Joyce and Oscar Wilde, in stories and legends of Ireland as well. Sadly, her story is true.

The film has the right speed in presenting all the facts, it is simple and well acted -Cate Blanchett's performance is outstanding.

Maybe Joel Schumacher, in the final part, looses a little the sense of rhythm because he wants us to be moved and touched (and we are, indeed. Because it's a shame that a woman and a brave journalist as well had to pay that price). But it's a true story, as I said. The film is valid because it denounces the "conspiracy of silence" and inaction from authorities.

Cate Blanchett has done it again - played someone you can't take your eyes off of, and not because she's a classic beauty but she's just a good actress and plays such intense roles. Here, she's the single-minded outraged Irish reporter out to expose the drug trafficking in Ireland in the mid 1990s. Yes, it's based on a real person, a very real Veronica Guerin, who took her life in her hands with her desire to have this problem taken care off so the kids in her country wouldn't have such easy access to harmful drugs.

According to the film story, the drug problem was ignored or the police were just ineffective in dealing with it, so Guerin goes after the mob as an investigative reporter. Her husband pleads with her to stop, knowing she could easily be killed. The gangsters were tough and realistically portrayed on film. There is no talk-now-shoot-later nonsense. You mess with them, you will pay. That's the message they give Guerin and you'll have to see the film to find out what happened.

Yup, this is an attention-getter from the start and especially with Blanchett in the lead. A good story and highly recommended.

The assassination of Dublin crime reporter Veronica Guerin in 1996 shook Ireland to the core, her murder saw a public swell of determination to rid the country of its drug peddlers. Joel Schumacher's film is an in depth interpretation of the woman, her beliefs, her family life, her complexities and her stoicism to root out the drug barons putting liquid death into the arms of the many.

Thankfully avoiding Hollywood clichés, it's often gritty and well thought out, Schumacher and his writers, Carol Doyle and Mary Agnes Donoghue, don't soft soap the Guerin image, her faults are laid bare alongside her searing strengths. The dangers of her work are very prominent throughout, leading to some suspenseful and fearsome scenes. Cate Blanchett as Guerin is inspired casting, an actress capable of covering all facets of the human condition, and in support Ciaran Hinds, Gerard McSorley and Brenda Fricker give powerful performances. 8/10

Back in the 1990s, I recall reading news articles about a feisty journalist who was writing stories about the drug problems in Dublin. Occasionally, I'd see another article, and was impressed by the strength and character of the writer. Then, in 1996, I read a long magazine story about Veronica Guerin and how she died.

So, this is a movie I really wanted to see...

Joel Schumacher has produced/directed many good movies, and this one must come near the top for me.

There is no preaching, no histrionics, no proselytizing, no hype – just a relatively short account of how this woman decided to do something about the kids dying in the streets, and about the difficulties she faced in trying to get authorities to stem, or stop, the flow of drugs into the city. Just an ordinary woman who did the extraordinary...

The cinematography of the dirty streets and kids is gritty, as you would expect, contrasting very well with the opulence enjoyed by the major drug pushers of the upper establishment in the Dublin area.

The violence – and there's plenty of it – is short, sharp, vicious and all too realistic: when one drug gang eliminates another, when an informer is tortured, when Veronica is subjected to the most savage personal beating I've seen on film, and when she is finally assassinated.

Couple all of that with a performance by Blanchett worthy of an Oscar, closely followed by Gerard McSorley as John Gilligan, whose evil must be seen to fully appreciate the performance of this fine actor, and rounded off with Ciaran Hinds as John Traynor, who simply excels in his performance as the slime-ball to end all slime-balls – and you have a film that keeps you riveted to your seat, wondering how is it that one person can be so brave in the face of such depravity.

It's a very depressing film because you know what is coming, you know that a horrible death comes as the end. But, it is also an uplifting story that proves, beyond measure, that good people can prevail against the bad elements that exist in all societies, even though some do pay the ultimate price.

If there is one movie you see this year, see this one.