If you knew nothing about the real Veronica Guerin going in to this film, you’d leave knowing she was a courageous journalist from Dublin whose relentless pursuit of the city’s drug kingpins eventually produced stronger drug laws in Ireland, but also got her killed in 1996. However, you won’t find out what drove Guerin, a wife and mother, to cover her beat to death because when it comes to digging below the surface, “Veronica Guerin” the movie isn’t nearly as dogged as its namesake. Director Joel Shumacher delivers the flesh and bones of Guerin’s noble crusade, but the heart is missing. We know what she did, but can only guess at what drove her to do it even after her child was threatened and she was shot through the leg in the first, failed attempt on her life.
Cate Blanchett throws everything she’s got into the role of the intrepid scribe whose vivid portraits of a dangerous world most of Ireland had never seen before made her a media star. Blanchett plays it uncompromisingly earnest, and makes us believe that Guerin was indeed a true believer. Yet, Blanchett’s efforts are hindered by a narrative that is more concerned with connecting the historic dots than it is with viscerally connecting us to the lead character. And while Guerin was no doubt an accomplished journalist, you wouldn’t know it from watching her in action in this film. Before they made her out to look like a hack, somebody should have told the film-makers that, unlike most entertainment reporters, big-city investigative journalists covering the underworld usually do more than show off their legs and flirt when they’re chasing the big stories.
As John Traynor, Guerin’s main underworld contact, Irish actor Ciaran Hinds delivers a performance reminiscent of Ray Winstone’s memorable turn in “Sexy Beast.” Gerard McSorley is flat-out chilling as crime boss John Gilligan, who provides Guerin’s only discernible motive for extreme action (beyond career ambition) when he savagely beats her as she attempts to interview him outside his home. (Rated R for violence, language and some drug content. Running time: 98 minutes)
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 17, 2003. Read the original PDF.