Veronica Guerin
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Movie Reviews of Veronica Guerin
Movie Review: (In fact 3.5)Superb Cate Blanchett Redeems Unfulfilled Story
Summary: 4 Stars
If I give four stars to this film, that's simply because of Cate Blanchett. The story of Veronica Gurerin, who was killed during the determined jounalistic jobs about drug business, has been already covered in a thinly disguised version "When the Sky Falls" (with Joan Allen), but to be frank with you, this "Veronica Guerin" could be much better with another director and producer. Why Joel Shumacher and Jerry Bruckheimer? The story is smoothly told, with a good opening sequence, but you can't expect a "bio-pic" in "Veronica Guerrin," in which you are shown not many things that would tell us about the inner life of her. Veronica, writer for the Sunday Independent, begins her crusade against the drug lord in Dublin, who is responsible for the appalling conditions of the life of the kids there. As she goes on, she is threatened by unseen forces, possibly the henchmen of the underworld, but she stubbornly keeps on her course until she meets the inevitable result.
Cate Blanchett's superb acting (Golden Globe nominated) almost hides it, but what the film's screenplay offers is treated with Shumacher's by-the-number direction. I really hate the moment, for instance, in which the camera lingers on the bloody crime scene, as if to put emphasis on the tragic nature of the story, in the worst Hollywood fashion. We can easily feel, from Cate's perfect acting (with perfect Irish accent), the magnitude of what she did, and what happened to her. So, why not leave it to her?
The villainous acting of Ciaran Hinds ("Persuation") is also great, but his character also suffers from too familiar elements seen in many crime films. These two leading actors are so compelling that you forget and forgive the fact the film fails to explain the inaptitude of the laws and the police (which "When the Sky Falls" showed), the very thing the death of the jounalist ironically revealed to the public.
With beautifuly shot locations, "Veronica Guerin" is another showcase for Cate Blanchett's incredible acting talent. (And you get an amusing cameo from the star of "Phone Booth") But after watching it (and that ride was pretty fast), I still couldn't understand why she risked her life, and possibly her family, in order to uncover the story. I still couldn't see why some of other journalists, as this film shows us, while drinking in the bar, tell us that they don't like Veronica or her jobs. Most importantly, why did she act alone when she knows it's very dangerous? There MUST be another story, perhaps a better one, hiding in the answers to these questions. Unfortunately (for me, I say) the director didn't think about that possibilty, even though I know the film is not obliged to do it.
Movie Review: Sticking out a tongue at evil men
Summary: 4 Stars
Four and a half stars, actually.VERONICA GUERIN is based on real events. It's the second screen telling of the story, the first being WHEN THE SKY FALLS (2000) starring Joan Allen.
In this version, Cate Blanchett stars in the title role as the Dublin journalist on Ireland's leading newspaper, who takes it as her personal mission to expose the burgeoning drug trade in the mid-1990's. Her stubborn probing brings her onto the radar of some very hard and violent men, in particular one John Gilligan (Gerard McSorley). Guerin persists despite escalating threats and violence to her person. It's a matter of public record that she was gunned down in her car on June 26, 1996 while waiting at a traffic light, the depiction of which assassination is initiated during the first few minutes of the film.
VERONICA GUERIN is a revelation. Call it naivete, but I never suspected that Ireland had such a vicious and violent drug problem. I mean, didn't St. Patrick drive out the snakes?
Cate Blanchett is perhaps one of the very best dramatic actresses in film today. She doesn't just act her role, she becomes one with it. She is the single best reason to see this movie, and the reason that I'm giving 4.5 stars to an otherwise 3-star production. But why not five?
Blanchett's Guerin persona is glamorous, exuberant, witty, and flirtatious - I think I'm in love. However, I've the sneaking suspicion that the scriptwriters embellished the personality of the murdered reporter to make it play better to the audience. If they did, they'd no good reason to have done so since Veronica's two-year battle against drug dealing scum is by itself a front-page story of incredible heroism - or incredible foolishness. Perhaps the world would be a better place had it more of such fools.
I intend to rent WHEN THE SKY FALLS for a different perspective. Joan Allen is another extraordinary talent, but she doesn't have the glamour that might otherwise skew a necessarily gritty and tragic story.
It's a shame that VERONICA GUERIN played in my local theaters for so short a period. Blanchett's performance may very well earn her an Oscar nomination for best actress.
Movie Review: compelling tale of a true life martyr
Summary: 4 Stars
A bit like an Irish version of "Silkwood," "Veronica Guerin" is the true-life tale of a woman who was shot down in cold blood for daring to do the right thing. No martyr by intent, Guerin was a Dublin newspaper journalist who, sickened by what she saw happening to the youth of her country at the hands of drug dealers and petty gangsters, wrote damning exposes of this criminal underworld in her columns, at great personal risk to her family and herself. For that, Guerin ended up paying the ultimate price, but the city in which she lived and worked became a better place for her sacrifice.Producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Joel Schumacher have wisely opted to tamp down their normally hurdy-gurdy filmmaking style, taking instead a straightforward, streamlined, almost too conventional an approach to the story. This seems appropriate since the material itself is so compelling that any attempt to gussy it up with hyped-up editing techniques and high tech flash would be both dishonest to the facts and disrespectful to the woman at its core. Cate Blanchett does a superb job inhabiting this character, displaying all the moral tenacity and hardheaded feistiness necessary to make us understand why Guerin does what he does. The risk with a character like Guerin is that she will come across as too saintly on screen, but Blanchett and the filmmakers are careful to keep her life-sized and down-to-earth at all times. In addition to her courage, idealism and inextinguishable determination to do what's moral and right, we also get to see her less admirable traits such as her abrasiveness and recklessness, as well as her most humanizing trait of all: her fear. This allows the character to be both heroic and real at the same time.
There are excellent supporting performances from Gerald McSorley, Carian Hinds and Brenda Flicker, as well as a rather pointless cameo appearance by Colin Farrell, whose name does not even appear in the final credits. This sudden, unexpected appearance of a major star amidst this generally unfamiliar cast of first-rate character actors succeeds only in undercutting the verisimilitude of the piece.
Movie Review: Compelling and truly powerful
Summary: 4 Stars
In 1996, reporter Veronica Guerin was murdered by drug barons she had exposed in the papers. Based on the true story, flawed but compelling, "Veronica Guerin" starts off being merely interesting and ends up being sad and shocking. It follows Veronica (Cate Blanchett) through the last two years of her life (she died in her late thirties). During that time, she stepped into the seedy side of Dublin, investigating drugs and thugs. As a result, her home was attacked and her family threatened. And in the end, Veronica's quest against the drug barons exposed them to the world -- and sealed her fate.
There is some question of how much the film and title character were sanitized. It's undeniable that they were. But the story remaining is close enough to the truth to make an amazing movie. It centers on a woman who was not so much brave as she was immune to the sense of danger, determined and focused on her goals.
The even, steady tone of the film despite its sensationalistic subjects (drugs and gangsters) is admirable, but it makes things a bit too simplistic and dispassionate. While I wasn't looking for the over-the-top, rather laughable style of "Phone Booth," I did wish that things would get a little faster and rougher. Joel Schumacher certainly stumbles sometimes with his handling of some supporting characters who are misrepresented, and some characters (the unnecessary catty reporters) who are just to make Veronica look better.
Blanchett gives an astounding performance, vital and vivid and very magnetic. She doesn't play Veronica as a perfect person; she's an inattentive wife and mother, but I liked her nonetheless. Gerard McSorley is plausibly creepy as Gilligan, and the talented Ciaran Hinds does a good job as well, although I felt he was underused.
This film might not have been worthwhile if it weren't for Cate Blanchett, as she brings it fully to life. With her influence, the flawed "Veronica Guerin" becomes a sad, compelling story worth seeing.
Movie Review: Courage Will Echo Through the Power of the Pen...
Summary: 4 Stars
The life of Veronica Guerin was full of hope, desire to improve the world, and a need to inform the public about the injustices and crimes of others that most dared not speak off. Veronica was a reporter for an Irish newspaper where she used to publish the results of her investigations . The investigative reports by Veronica were often laughed upon by other reporters, but the articles were also feared by those who were investigated. The truth had to be heard and Veronica was one of those brave souls that fought the war of injustice for those who could not through the power of the pen. The story of Veronica is based on a true story and her courage will echo through time as others like her are committed to spread the word of truth.
The story begins with Veronica (Cate Blanchett) being freed of charges as she had compiled a large number of speeding tickets. Veronica exits the courthouse and begins her drive home while calling her mother and a police officer to let them know that she is back on the road. When Veronica stops at a red light someone drives up next to her and crashes her window to her car. This is followed by a flashback to what lead up to the current event as Veronica followed up on a lead regarding the excessive amount of heavy drugs on the streets of Dublin.
The film depicts the dark side of Dublin before Veronica pushed the law enforcement into action. This is told in one long flashback that leads up to the current moment in the film. The location and mise-en-scene are powerful as they help depict a realistic setting for the film, which enhances the aesthetic atmosphere of the story. Cate Blanchett's performance is excellent as she is convincingly strong, yet delicately frail as she is submitted to highly stressful situations. In the end, the audience will experience a good cinematic experience, which is similar to the film When the Sky Falls (2000).