Veronica Guerin

In 1996, high-profile anti-drug crusading Irish journalist Veronica Guerin was violently gunned down in broad daylight at a highway crossing. The event galvanized the island nation, and resulted in a sweeping take-back-the-streets campaign in the Dublin slums that led to major changes in drug laws. But Guerin's one-woman battle against the country's deeply entrenched criminal element might have seemed like the stuff of TV movies here if it weren't for the warmth and tenacity of Cate Blanchett's beautifully well-rounded starring performance and the unblinking starkness of director Joel Schumacher's gritty account of the events leading up to her murder. While the film fails to provide much background on its subject and tells us nothing about her as a writer, Blanchett effectively conveys Guerin's inexperienced, seat-of-the-pants reliance on dodgy, sometimes misleading sources, and shows how her growing public profile may have emboldened her impulsiveness to a dangerous degree. Despite its imperfections, Veronica Guerin provides a visceral sense of why "everyone in Ireland remembers where they were when they heard she was killed," powerfully illustrating what her life ultimately meant to others, and that's no small accomplishment. Recommended. [Note: DVD extras include two audio commentaries (one by director Joel Schumacher; the other by writers Mary Agnes Donoghue and Carol Doyle), the 13-minute 'making of' featurette 'Public Mask, Private Fears,' 21 minutes of 'Conversations with Jerry Bruckheimer' as the producer provides commentary over film clips, a two-minute deleted scene, a four-minute awards speech segment by the real Veronica Guerin to the Committee to Protect Journalists, a seven-minute producer's photo diary slideshow with commentary by Bruckheimer, and trailers. Bottom line: a nice extras package for a solid bio-pic.] (R. Blackwelder) [Blu-ray/DVD Review—June 4, 2019—Kino Lorber, 98 min., R, DVD: $14.95, Blu-ray: $24.95—Making its latest appearance on DVD and debut on Blu-ray, 2003’s Veronica Guerin features a nice transfer and a DTS-HD 5.1 soundtrack on Blu-ray. Extras include two audio commentaries (one by director Joel Schumacher; the other by writers Carol Doyle and Mary Agnes Donoghue), a conversation with producer Jerry Bruckheimer (21 min.), a 'Public Mask, Private Fears' making-of featurette (13 min.), a 'Producer’s Photo Diary' with Bruckheimer (7 min.), 'The Real Veronica Guerin Speaks at the Committee to Protect Journalists' (4 min.), and a deleted scene (3 min.). Bottom line: this solid bio-pic makes a welcome debut on Blu-ray.]