I'm not going to lie: I tend to give the movies I see good reviews. I do this because I tend to see movies that I want to see, precisely because I think that I'm probably going to like them. Well, let's just say I was off the mark with "Veronica Guerin," the most recent film by director Joel Schumacher and producer Jerry Bruckheimer, which was, quite frankly, a disappointment. It's kind of like "Erin Brockovich," but with Irish accents. And bad.
"Veronica Guerin" tells the true story of an Irish journalist of the same name (portrayed by Cate Blanchett) who was killed in her attempts to expose the drug lords who had all but taken over Dublin in the mid-1990s. Don't worry, I'm not giving anything away; she dies within the first five minutes of the film, which then flashes back to trace the steps that led to her murder.
In fact, the intro is perhaps the best part of the whole film. The initial portrayal of Guerin's assassination is well-crafted and chilling. Her journey into the dark underbelly of Dublin to speak with teenage drug addicts and concerned community members makes a powerful impression. Indeed, the beginning of the film sets the stage for what could be a touching human-interest drama. Could be, but isn't.
Very quickly the focus of the story shifts from Guerin's attempts to fight drugs to the threats against her life. While such attacks are certainly a non-negligible part of the real Guerin's story, the movie rapidly becomes less of a moving tale of one woman's attempts to change drug laws in the face of mortal danger and more of a macho action film. The children playing with needles are gone, having been replaced with a group of unsightly drug pushers who are, for the most part, too numerous for the viewer to differentiate, let alone make value judgments about (John Gilligan and John Traynor provide notable exceptions).
The viewer does get some insight into Guerin's family life and the toll her dangerous work situation takes on her loved ones, but her relatives play too small of a role in the overall story to make much of an impression. Moreover, the viewer only has a small attachment to Guerin herself. Maybe this is because the movie shows her death right off the bat. Or perhaps, because of the shift in focus from her crusade against drugs to her survival despite her dangerous behavior, she ends up coming across as less of a martyr and more of a reckless woman.
The film's failure is not for want of trying on the part of the cast. Blanchett's portrayal of the tenacious Guerin sometimes comes across as a bit too obvious, but that could just be because the actual Guerin was a very straightforward, ballsy woman in her day. It is clear, however, that Blanchett was devoted to her character (rumor has it she interviewed many of the real Guerin's friends and colleagues before making the film).
As drug lords, John Traynor and John Gilligan, Irish actors Ciaran Hinds and Gerard McSorely are appropriately slimy and cruel.
One last gripe I had with the film is that popular actor Colin Farrell is onscreen for a mere three minutes and his character serves absolutely no function at all (unless, of course, you count his appearance as the only well-known Irish actor of the bunch as a legitimate purpose, which I do not).
Whatever the cause of the film's shortcoming, the end result is a shame because Guerin's truly is a moving tale. The final portrayal of her death pretty much kills any chance the movie had for ending with dignity. It is prolonged and melodramatic, to the point of almost being offensive.
The fundamental problem with this film is not in the acting, and it is certainly not in the story. Instead, it is with the composition and direction. In hindsight, I should not be surprised at Bruckheimer and Schumacher's inability to present a human-interest drama without turning it into an action thriller. In looking at their past works, both have worked primarily on loud and proud action films: Bruckheimer produced the "Bad Boys" films, Schumacher directed the "Batman" series, and the two collaborated on "Bad Company" in 2002. Neither has ever quite grasped the idea that sometimes subtlety makes a film all the more powerful. Knowing that, however, makes it no less disappointing that they failed to live up to the potential "Veronica Guerin" had.
Two and a half stars.
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