Veronica Guerin Review
by Robin Clifford (robin AT reelingreviews DOT com)October 14th, 2003
"Veronica Guerin"
In the mid-1990s the streets of Dublin became a battlefield with the city's drug lords vying for territory to hawk their deadly ware. Veronica Guerin (Cate Blanchett), a leading journalist in Ireland, turns her attention toward the growing problem that is spreading like a cancer and begins to author scathing exposes that brings the drug lords, known as the General, the Coach, the Monk and other such monikers, to national attention. But, fearless though she may be, the plucky, dedicated journalist is not invincible in director Joel Schumacher's docu-drama, "Veronica Guerin."
This story of the irrepressible reporter of the title joins the rank of dramas about the life and times of other journalists in such films as "All the President's Men," "Salvador" and "The Killing Field." While "Veronica Guerin" isn't in the same league as these films it does represent a solid telling of the dedication, bravery and intestinal fortitude of one reporter who, naively believing in the protective shield of being "press," went head-to-head with the most brutal and ruthless of the drug hierarchy in Ireland. It is a fight she can't win and, as we learn, makes the biggest sacrifice.
The film begins as it will end with Veronica facing a judge for her thousand plus parking tickets and numerous speeding violations. To her incredulous surprise she is let off with only a (big) fine and in possession of her precious driver's license. She speeds off, calling everyone she knows on her cell phone to break the good news. Meanwhile, a pair of gun toting thugs on a motorcycle takes chase and catches up with her at a traffic light. As Veronica, talking to her editor and oblivious to the danger, turns to look at her pursers, the passenger pulls a gun and....
Time jumps back a couple of years and Veronica is entering the dregs of Dublin's neighborhoods where used heroin syringes litter the street and are playthings for the little kids who must grow up in such squalor and danger. She tries to get one of the addicted denizens to grant her an interview and reveal the source of the drugs that plague them. Her pleas fall on deaf ears even when she observes the drug dealers leaving their marketplace in brand new Mercedes. Veronica learns from a local ant-drug activist parent the chilling statistics of death in their streets due to heroin addiction. She is resolved to make the public aware of the problem and force the government and police into action.
There is a price for this evangelic desire to rid the streets of drugs and its sellers and Veronica forms a relationship with mobster John Traynor (Ciaran Hinds), known in his world as The Coach. John is enamored with his notoriety and the attention of the pretty reporter and plays a game with her, dropping false tidbits of information that implicate another drug lord, The Monk (Alan Devine). But, in John's shady world, discretion is more important than treachery, and his talks with Veronica come to the attention of John Gilligan (Gerard McSorley), the top drug kingpin who lives like an Irish laird, raises horses and will beat a person to death with his bare hands if crossed. Veronica, confident that she is invincible, is not prepared for the sudden, brutal response that Gilligan is capable of when she tries to interview him.
"Veronica Guerin" is by the numbers as it depicts the near saint-like title character going through her day-to-day grind for truth, justice and the Irish way. The screenplay by Carol Doyle and Mary Agnes Donohue (from Doyle's story) takes a typical show-the-tragic-ending then build the story to that end, a la "Silkwood." It is a sound way to tell a tale and Schumacher does a yeoman's job doing so.
Cate Blancett is a bit too bright and bubbly in the role of a character who takes some pretty hard knocks getting her story - she is shot, at close range with a big gun, as a warning; and, she is brutally beaten when she confronts Gilligan at his manor, without witnesses. As the story progresses, I would expect an edge of cynicism and caution to enter Guerin's character but Blanchett plays it with an upbeat, optimistic air to the very end. The actress is fine in her character but it is not her best work.
Supporting cast is capable and the members give solid perfs. Irish actor Ciaran Hinds is, for once, playing an Irishman and, even with his own accent, has the air of the charismatic celebrity as the Coach. Gerard McSorley is chilling as the ruthless Gilligan who will stop at nothing, literally, to protect what is "rightly" his. His sudden beating of Veronica is shocking in its unexpected abruptness.
Techs are, as you would expect in a Jerry Bruckheimer production, are top rate.
I don't see any Oscars looming on the horizon but "Veronica Guerin" is an interesting docu-drama, well told, and deserves a look just to see what one person can do to change the world. I give it a B-.
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