Based on a true
story, this is about the Irish journalist Veronica Guerin
(Blanchett), a reporter for The Sunday Independent, who exposed
some of Dublin's most powerful crime barons and drug lords in
1996.
CRITIQUE
The story of
Veronica Guerin was previously explored in When the Sky Falls,
a 2000 film starring Joan Allen and Pete Postlethwaite. That film
is based on the real events but uses fictionalized persons and
situations. The script for the Joel Schumacher-directed
Veronica Guerin deals with the real events and the real
people. Before you read any further, know that it's impossible for
me not to give away the film's ending. In fact, the script begins
with the attack on the highway, but it cuts back two years later
to tell how the attack came to be and who Veronica Guerin was.
The script is fairly
straight-forward, it introduces the reporter researching the
mounting drug problem in Dublin. One of her contacts, John Traynor
(Hinds), warns her to stay away from criminal Martin Cahill (Gerry
O'Brien), but Guerin visits his house to ask questions where she
is politely asked to piss off. We learn Guerin is inquisitive and
won't be intimidated. Meanwhile, John Gilligan (McSorley), a
notorious criminal recently out of prison, is trying to stay low
while making a business selling drugs to children of all ages.
Through more investigation Guerin becomes aware of Gilligan and
his activities, which ultimately places her life and her family in
danger. The script deals with situations and characters on a
surface level, never reaching into Guerin's psyche and telling a
simple story of fairly complex events.
The film manages to
be compelling, however, as a number of scenes are heartfelt and
interesting. The subplots don't reach too far, and some are
gleaned over by simple storytelling. The story of Martin Cahill
was made into a film by John Boorman called The General and
starring Brendan Gleeson. Veronica Guerin tends to focus
only on the large aspects of events, neglecting certain issues and
characters that would give the film more focus and importance. The
film runs only 98 minutes which is a good length for pacing, but a
little too short when telling a story of this magnitude.
In the
end, the film is good, but it could've been better. The ending
pays a respectful tribute to Guerin and ends with a sorrowful
epilogue (since Guerin's death over 196 journalists worldwide have
been murdered during the course of their work), but the one song used during
the montage didn't work for me. There is a story to the origin of
that song and the boy who sings it, but discussing it is not going
to change the fact that a different and perhaps more appropriate song should've been used.
Despite the fact
that Cate Blanchett looks much younger than the real Guerin, the
actress gives a commanding performance. I think she does a really
good job with the material and does the real Guerin justice. John
Gilligan comes across as severely intimidating thanks to a
menacing performance by Gerard McSorley, and Ciaran Hinds plays
his character pretty well also. Joel Schumacher directs the film
quite well, getting good performances and filming scenes in
interesting ways. For trivia, the film's alternate title
was Chasing the Dragon: The Veronica Guerin Story.
All things
considered, Veronica Guerin tells a compelling story but
not all of it. What's presented in the film, however, gives a
clear indication of what happened. The film is certainly above
average, and generally quite good, but it also could've been
better and more focused.
THE VIDEO
Buena Vista presents
Veronica Guerin in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen. Colors look
quite beautiful here with many subdued blues, reds, and greens.
They're also well-saturated and sharp. Detail is quite good, but
grain appears at times. Some compression artifacts also occur,
but edge enhancement is not necessarily visible. Dark tones and
black levels are deep. The print image looks pretty nice without
any major problems, such as scratches or dirt. Overall, this is
a very nice-looking video presentation.
THE AUDIO
Buena Vista presents
Veronica Guerin in English 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound.
Dialogue is clear and easy to understand, yet some of the actors
speak with Dublin dialects. The film is mainly audio-driven and
the front speakers support very nice positional audio and
channel separation. The soundtrack presents sound effects
clearly and the surrounds nicely reinforce the music score by
Harry Gregson-Williams. Overall, quite a nice presentation.
Also available is
an English Stereo Surround soundtrack as well as a French dub
track.
THE EXTRAS
The film pulled in
only $1,571,504 million at the US box office (plus circa $7 mill
overseas), but Buena Vista's DVD release is certainly generous
as a few decent supplements are included.
There is an
audio commentary by Joel Schumacher that's surprisingly
informative in many ways. He provides good background on the
real-life Veronica Guerin, and discusses topics like working
with the actors, shooing on location, telling the story like it
happened, etc. The second commentary by writers Carol Doyle
and Mary Agnes Donoghue is informative in general as they
discuss writing, the script and the film's story.
Next is the circa
12-minute "Public Mask, Private Fears" making-of featurette
that focuses on the real Veronica Guerin and how the film tells
her story. Various on-set footage appears over interviews with
the principals actors, director Schumacher, and producer Jerry
Bruckheimer. The featurette discusses Guerin more than showing
the making of the film, and in that regard it's a little
disappointing, yet the comments from the interviews are honest.
Next is a decent
3-minute deleted scene of
Guerin speaking at the Committee to Protect Journalists. Then
there is the actual footage of that event featuring the
real Veronica Guerin as she speaks out about her work. A
Conversation with Jerry Bruckheimer is a series of film
clips with the producer commenting on various aspects and topics
that are introduced by title cards. Also included is a brief
Producer's Photo Diary with Bruckheimer describing and
discussing some of his photographs he took during production.
Rounding out the extras is a register your DVD link and
several bonus trailers for upcoming BV titles, yet no
trailer for Veronica Guerin.
You can
select to view the film with optional English, French and Spanish subtitles. The
98-minute feature is organized into
sixteen chapters. A paper insert lists scene selections.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Veronica Guerin
is compelling and interesting to watch even though the script doesn't
really focus on the intricate details of the events and describing the
character in a way that explains the reporter's ultimate actions and
beliefs. The performance are all good and direction is pretty solid.
The DVDs video/audio is very good. Half of the extras didn't interest
me all that much and Schumacher's commentary is more insightful than
the somewhat brief featurette. A recommended rental.
