It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

Absolutely Fantastic

It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

A flawed motion picture, from Cate Blanchett's faulty Irish accent to the hideous screeching song played at the end of the flick (sung by a child??). I didn't find anything heroic about this woman, a journalist hell-bent on exposing the drug trade, all caution thrown to the hackneyed wind. She was a totally reckless person, witness her shameful list of speeding tickets, e.g. 108 mph, then a month later 104 mph, plus almost 1,200 parking tickets, no concern over the safety of other road users... additionally she took no precautions re her personal safety or that of her husband or even the safety of her little boy... she answered knocking on her door blithely, no peep hole, no safety chain. It was very easy to get the point that this person was on a mission, virtually a crusade, and she ended up paying the inevitable price, after chasing down the criminals and confronting them at their places of business and their homes, relentlessly, with no consideration of potential consequences, even after direct, overt, blood-curdling threats to her and her child from the criminals. Cinematography was well done, the story was simple to follow. How much of the movie was true and how much was "Hollywood" I do not know, but I found a few things impossible to understand, such as why a judge would let this woman off with a GB£100 fine when she was brought to court for her speeding and parking offences. The maximum speed limit in the UK and Ireland is 70 mph (on highways). Surely doing 108 one month and 104 the next should mean a long suspension of the offender's driving licence? Wouldn't her husband have been more concerned about her safety and their little son's? Wouldn't he have had some security devices installed in their home? WHY did she feel it necessary to flex her muscles by driving at highly excessive speeds continually? And at the same time using her cellphone (mobile phone)??? The graphic violence was convincingly well-done, but I would have liked some insight into her character and personality, ditto those of hubby's. Overall, an unsatisfactory film, far from a tribute to this "dedicated" journalist. Not recommended. #

It's a funny sort of film that's designed to document the life of a significant individual - yet gives you the impression that she was more important than it has portrayed her. This is how I left this artful yet somewhat lightweight movie describing the later life and work of Veronica Guerin, a reporter investigating the drug trade on the periphery of the troubles shortly before the Good Friday agreement was reached.A voice-over at the coda of the film has to makeweight where the film itself has left out ballast. The performances are solid - more so in the case of Cate Blanchett herself whose Irish accent is impeccable, and whose buzzing, boyish energy seems utterly fluent and credible. Yet the baddies seem simply neurotic and the good guys drawn into Guerin's vortex of investigative graft maintain their distance. There's no tipping point, save two moments of drama - these are simply stock in trade.It's a useful document and a competent film but it just doesn't have the gravitational pull that the woman clearly did. 5/10

Veronica Guerin is an Irish biopic that features Cate Blanchett in the title role.The screenplay by Carol Doyle and Mary Agnes Donoghue focuses on Irish journalist, whose investigation into the drug trade in Dublin led to her murder in 1996.It was directed by Joel Schumacher. Guerin is a relentless crime reporter for The Sunday Independent during the 1990's. The screenplay focuses on her pursuit of the underground drug trade in Dublin, which she suspects is led by mobster Martin "The General" Cahill. When Cahill's gang is attacked, she suspects mobster Gerry "The Monk" Hutch is responsible. Not deterred by threats or gunshot wounds, she uses thug John Traynor as an informer to help out her investigation of psychotic mobster John Gilligan.The film provides us great performances as Blanchett gives a tour de force performance as Guerin. Sporting a perfect Irish accent, she imbues the character great screen presence that we do care for her character.Also,the film was an engrossing thriller despite of an average screenplay that resorted to standard movie plot rather than a character study of the journalist herself.

I really liked this movie from the standpoint of what it covers and accuracy. We outsiders know so little of what makes Ireland, Ireland. This is an insightful view through one keyhole. Steeped in mystical things yet deeply religious, a deep underground world to rival the Italian Mafia, yet such an angelic goodness on the flip side. One thing is sure, if you are from Irish descent, whatever your direction, good or evil, your dedication is strong. This movie portrays it all and does it well. There is a deepness to the characters, even the ones in the peripheral. That depth relates the story in a way so few that are somewhat situational biographical of people and events have done. You know these characters when the movie ends.