Why would anyone want to kill Veronica Guerin? The better question is why would Joel Schumacher want to direct Veronica Guerin? It seems to me he’s trying to be the next Soderburg – Veronica Guerin is straight cross between Traffic and Erin Brockovich. With an emphasis on the Brockovich.

Both Guerin and Brockovich are based on fairly recent true and remarkable events. Both involve headstrong, but pretty, women who struggle with their families and co-workers in order to do investigative work that will result in the exposing of widespread crime. One significant difference is that while Erin Brockovich ends up with fortune and success, Veronica Guerin was – well, just Google it – Guerin was shot by the drug lords she was investigating in 1996.

Although Veronica Guerin is much more likable than Brockovich, she’s not nearly as enjoyable to watch as Julia Roberts’ character was. Guerin’s certainly the more noble character though. Her bravery, resilience and determination to do what’s right in the face of danger, and then even making the ultimate sacrifice for the cause, is all virtually reminiscent of William Wallace. The uproar that is caused after her death furthers those feelings.

Don’t get me wrong, Veronica Guerin is no Braveheart. Guerin reenacts the details of minute events whose strength of interest lies solely on the fact that it really happened this way. The script – though competently done – feels like it was made-for-TV.

The story generally follows Veronica Guerin (Cate Blanchett), a fairly new journalist who begins to discover the growing underground drug trafficking going on in Ireland. Getting a lot of her information from John Traynor (Ciaran Hinds), a man on the inside, she begins to uncover major drug crimes being done by major drug lords. This puts her in danger, of course, but she pursues the stories in the face of threats and eventually loses her life.

I’m not one to say such things very often, but I think this is an important film. I had no idea this ever happened, and I was shocked to see that such large scale criminality was going on in modern times. I’m grateful for people like Veronica Guerin who are willing to fight for what is right and I hope this film will lead to a greater awareness of the need for government attention towards drug trafficking.

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