VERONICA GUERIN

Veronica Guerin Gets to the Heart of Investigative Journalism

Veronica Guerin was an Irish journalist who became obsessed with exposing
the drug lords and traffickers who controlled organized crime in Dublin in
the late 80s through to the mid 90s. Recognized on the street by her
readers, she was possessed of a fearless nature in challenging these
criminals who made threats against her family, shot her in the leg, issued
numerous death threats, and saw her beaten viciously. Finally in 1996, she
was murdered by the very men she was trying to bring to justice. In death
she became a martyr, as almost instantly the Irish government cracked down
on these criminals, seizing their assets and throwing many of them behind
bars. How sad that Guerin did not live to see what her writing did, yet I
am sure she would be proud of what her death accomplished.

It would be easy to dismiss any film directed by Joel Schumacher because he
has unfairly earned a reputation as a Hollywood blockbuster filmmaker. Yes
he directed Batman Forever (1995) and Batman and Robin (1997), all but
ending the Warner Brothers franchise, as well as the incredibly stupid 8mm
(1996), and Flatliners (1990). Yet he was also the man who directed Falling
Down (1993), the superb Tigerland (2000), A Time to Kill (1995) and last
year's taut thriller Phone Booth (2002). When not burdened with an enormous
budget and grandiose expectations, Schumacher is a fine director who can
get the job done. He possesses strength with actors that I do not believe
he has ever been given enough credit for, and was brave enough to recognize
he was wasting his skills with Batman and Robin. His gritty, virtually
dogma style with Tigerland stunned critics into silence, making it clear to
any nay-sayers, the man can direct.

With Veronica Guerin, he falls into a trap that most filmmakers making a
biography fall into which is that they have a tad too much admiration for
their character. That very thing ruined Oliver Stone's The Doors (1991)
despite a strong performance from Val Kilmer in the title role, and also
impacted on Richard Attenborough's Chaplin (1992). The director must be
willing to show their subject warts and all, because it is their flaws
which allow us to get close to them, which humanize them. That was the
great strength of Spike Lee's Malcolm X (1992) and Oliver Stone's Nixon
(1995), and though Veronica Guerin is a very strong film, it is not the
masterpiece many hoped for. Cate Blanchett is luminous as Guerin, bringing
a clear eyed courage to the character that is precisely what is needed to
make the audience believe the story and in the character. She knows she is
walking on thin ice in exposing these men, yet is committed to do so to at
least make a better Ireland for the youth around her. The film explores
what good she did, the risks she took, yet we never really understand why.
Why would a married woman with a child keep going even after death threats
had been made to her child? At that point is it not wise to back away? For
her troubles, for her supreme courage, Guerin was killed, shot six times
when a motorcycle pulled alongside her at a traffic light. She will never
see her child grow up or grow old with the man she loved. Was it, I wonder,
really worth it?

To their credit, the filmmakers make clear the fact that she sacrificed
being with her family many times for her work, and her husband was many
times a single parent long before he became one for real. She is portrayed
as dogged in her pursuit of these men, and is viciously beaten for her
efforts. That one sequence, in which she arrives as the drug lord's horse
farm is alarming in its sudden and swift brutality.

After barely introducing herself he lashes out at her, physically pummeling
her into a bloody mess, and all she can do is press charges against him. He
is unrepentant and actually jolly about the beating he gave her, likely
wishing he had done more. The police can do nothing. The phone call made by
the drug lord to Guerin is truly terrifying as he is totally committed to
shutting her down. We listen in horror as her child is threatened, and she
knows, without a shadow of a doubt, they are deadly serious about the
threat. It is to Gerald McSorley's credit that he makes this character both
fearsome and loathsome; clearly nothing matters to him but the dollars he
makes from drugs. It is one of the most quietly terrifying performances I
have ever seen.

It becomes clear that the police in Dublin could really do nothing and
really did nothing until of course she was killed.

Blanchett's performance elevates the film greatly, taking an otherwise
ordinary bio-pic and giving it a heart and soul. She brilliantly captures
Guerin's fierce determination in her work, and we leave the theatre with
full admiration of that. Sadly we never quite understand why she did what
she did.

I judge great movie bios by this: what did I learn about the person that I
did not know going in? With Veronica Guerin, I learned nothing as I had
researched her before seeing the film and Shumacher brings nothing unique
or new to the story. Yes it is a fine film, superbly acted by Blanchett who
will likely and deservedly be Oscar nominated, but I think in the end
Guerin deserved a greater film. Yes, like the others, I admire her
accomplishment, yet I question whether or not it was worth her life. I
suppose it goes back to the adage that one life is worth losing for the
thousands and millions which may be saved, but I think that is a tough
argument to make to her motherless child. yet I question whether or not it
was worth her life.