Apparently, they do shoot the messenger. Veronica Guerin, a real Irish journalist, made a name for herself in the early '90s by reporting on politics, church corruption and crime for Dublin's Sunday Independent. But after she started exposing the country's drug rings, the luck of the Irish ran out, and she was murdered. The killing made the journalist a martyr and helped turn the tide in Ireland's war against heroin.
While the true story is a compelling one, this Jerry Bruckheimer-ized, ham-fisted biopic tells it with an overly sentimental gush. And in doing so, the movie neglects the importance of Guerin's accomplishments until the very end of the film. Cate Blanchett's subtle, powerful performance as Guerin attempts to take the high emotional pitch down a notch, but, in the case of saving this film, it seems that one woman can't make a difference.