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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
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Veronica Guerin
Buena Vista Pictures
FILM:
MPAA RATING: R for violence, language and some drug content
Starring
Cate Blanchett,
Gerard McSorley,
Ciarán Hinds,
Brenda Fricker,
Don Wycherley,
Barry Barnes,
Simon O'Driscoll,
and
Emmet Bergin
Based on a true story, this powerful, emotional film gives unique insight into a fascinating and complex aspect of the Irish conflict and a poignant portrayal of a journalist (Blanchett) who risked her life in search of the truth. (Touchstone Pictures)
| GENRE(S): |
Crime
|
Drama
|
Suspense/Thriller
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Carol Doyle (also story)
Mary Agnes Donoghue
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Joel Schumacher
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: March 16, 2004
Video: March 16, 2004
Theatrical: October 17, 2003
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
92 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
USA / Ireland / UK |
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
91
Entertainment Weekly
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Her death was shocking; this well-made telling of her life is inspiring.
83
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
William Arnold
Blanchett is, warts-and-all, letter perfect.
80
LA Weekly
Ella Taylor
For once, it's no stretch for Jerry Bruckheimer to turn a human life into an action movie. Give or take a pack of screaming clichés in Carol Doyle and Mary Agnes Donoghue's screenplay, Joel Schumacher's propulsive thriller is also a smart character study, with Cate Blanchett as the jewel in its crown.
80
The Hollywood Reporter
Mark Adams
A luminous performance from Cate Blanchett lies at the heart of Joel Schumacher's impressive drama.
80
Time
Richard Corliss
Veronica Guerin paid with her life. This film would make her proud, for it is ultimately not depressing but -- we say without a shred of journalistic irony -- inspiring.
75
ReelViews
James Berardinelli
For the most part, this is a memorable portrayal of a woman who doggedly pursued, and died for, an ideal.
75
Chicago Tribune
Michael Wilmington
I can't imagine a better actress for this part than Australian-born Cate Blanchett. Blanchett, who can be regal ("Elizabeth") or slutty ("The Shipping News"), manages to catch the feel of Guerin.
75
Christian Science Monitor
David Sterritt
Vigorously directed by Joel Schumacher, the film is closer to a suspense thriller than a journalistic report.
75
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
Cate Blanchett plays Guerin in a way that fascinated me for reasons the movie probably did not intend.
75
San Francisco Chronicle
Mick LaSalle
An arresting portrait of a fascinating and somewhat mysterious personality.
70
Washington Post
Philip Kennicott
Does a respectable job of showing how a journalist constructs a story, the small exchanges, endless wheedling and occasional veiled threat. But most of all, it captures an impressive performance from Blanchett.
67
Austin Chronicle
Marjorie Baumgarten
It’s hard to say what makes Veronica Guerin feel so distant and uninspiring. Maybe, it’s just as conventional wisdom has always said: Journalism is a dull and tedious business to put on the screen.
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Rick Groen
Speaking of that deadly finale, it's easily the best part of the picture. Beautifully edited, shot in fluid slow-motion, scored to a traditional Irish ballad crooned in a child's tremulous voice, the violence of the climax is anthemic. The whole sequence is undeniably moving.
63
USA Today
Claudia Puig
Made gripping almost single-handedly by Blanchett's superlative performance.
63
New York Daily News
Jami Bernard
The movie portrays Guerin -- regarded by many as a hero -- as an irritating figure.
60
Wall Street Journal
Joe Morgenstern
Glorifies its subject without quite knowing what to make of her. There's no question, though, about Ms. Blanchett in the title role. When she's on screen, the Fourth Estate flourishes.
60
TV Guide
Maitland McDonagh
Blanchett's insouciant but steely performance alone makes the film worth watching, but it's Brenda Fricker's quietly underplayed turn as Guerin's mother that makes your throat tighten.
60
Chicago Reader
J.R. Jones
Well-meaning but simpleminded biopic.
60
Variety
Derek Elley
The supporting perfs provide the real drama, especially Hinds' excellent turn as the outwardly macho but inwardly broken Traynor, and McSorley's simmering portrayal of the psychotic Gilligan
60
Dallas Observer
Gregory Weinkauf
While the movie is indeed touching and very politically significant, there's something peculiar about never learning exactly what made ace reporter Guerin so intensely obsessive about this topic.
50
Village Voice
Michael Atkinson
A pre-programmed mediocrity, a slave to its clichés.
50
New York Magazine
Peter Rainer
A character as psychologically complex as Guerin -- whose drive may not have been fully comprehensible even to herself -- needs a lot of room to expand on screen. Schumacher and Bruckheimer box her in.
50
Premiere
Glenn Kenny
Too bad the movie was assembled by Hollywood types -- Joel Schumacher directed, Jerry Bruckheimer produced -- who like to have things 15 ways at once. Hollywood types don't like journalists, so while they're lionizing Guerin, they go out of their way to make almost every other journalist depicted in the picture despicable.
50
Rolling Stone
Peter Travers
Cate Blanchett is the spark that keeps this well-meaning but by-the-numbers biopic going.
50
Salon.com
Charles Taylor
Schumacher's crude bio-drama never comes close to asking the real questions.
50
The New Yorker
David Denby
Apart from Blanchett's performance, Veronica Guerin is not very interesting. The movie offers a brainless Hollywood version of investigative journalism. [10 November 2003, p. 129]
50
Boston Globe
Wesley Morris
Veronica Guerin hardly trusts you to follow its story, opening with the murder, then a series of titles that explain what's to follow.
50
Portland Oregonian
Shawn Levy
Manages to tell the story in generally taut, credible fashion, rising frequently on the strength of a gallery of fine performances even when the screenwriting becomes ordinary and Schumacher's touch becomes, as so often, crude and obvious.
50
Miami Herald
Connie Ogle
The real Guerin deserves a more complete cinematic tribute.
40
Los Angeles Times
Kenneth Turan
What's especially disheartening is the large gap between what's on the screen and the significant, meaningful work its creators sincerely believe they've made.
30
The New York Times
Dana Stevens
The end titles and the ones that introduce Veronica Guerin...are the most informative parts of the film, and also the most powerful. What comes between them is a flat-footed, overwrought crusader-against-evil melodrama, in which Ms. Blanchett's formidable gifts as an actress are reduced to a haircut and an accent.
30
Washington Post
Desson Thomson
In a movie whose texture is supposed to be hard-edged realism, the characterization seems a little too pat and jaunty.
25
New York Post
Jonathan Foreman
An example of Hollywood schlock from the team of Joel Schumacher (director) and Jerry Bruckheimer (producer) that lacks the faintest trace of imagination or genuine feeling.
 The average user rating for this movie is 6.6 (out of 10) based on 6 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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Chad S. gave it a 5:
