Veronica Guerin

[Guest rohale]

About two nights ago, I had to chance to watch a DVD titled " Veronica Guerin ". It's one of the best films I've seen in a long time. Cate Blanchett was absolutely superb in the title role. Ciran Hinds, Gerald McSorley and Brenda Frick were all equally memorable and strong. The movie from start to finish captivated my attention. I was generally quite touched, considering the subject matter itself. The movie itself is based on true life events.

 

Veronica Guerin was an Irish journalist living in the Republic Of Ireland. She resided in Dublin with her husband and son. She worked for a newspaper that had a readership level of about 300,000.

 

In 1994, Dublin had one of the worst drug problems in Europe. At the time there were approximately 14,000 young people shooting up heroin and methandon on a daily basis. The drug barons were making hefty profits. Until one reporter entered their world in wanting to expose the horror of what was taking place on the streets of Dublin at that point in time. Veronica Guerin became passionate in her fight to rid Ireland of these parasites. She bagan her investigations with the help of assorted criminal contacts who understood how the drug network was able to launder money without the authorities ever finding out.

 

In the process someone tried to kill her in her own home. She was shot in the leg. Some blamed a drug baron by the name of John Gilligan. After she was released from hospital, in the care of her family. She was determined with so much passion to bring this thug down. She evenly confronted him openly in front of his house about her attempted murder. Out of nowhere, he pounced on her, he physically beat her and left her bruised. He even threated to kidnap her son and kill him if she didn't stop. She went on television and vowed that she would not give in to these brutal thugs.

 

After two years of her investigations, it seemed she was making some progress, that is until the day of June 26, 1996. She had just left the courthouse over unpaid parking fines and speeding tickets. Veronica was given a fine for 100 pounds. She beat the system as she was often quoted. She was driving presumably towards home and then the unthinkable happened. She had just gotten on to the motorway. She reached a traffic light, she was on phone as happy as can be showing off a little bit. A motor bike pulled up beside her car, one of the guys on the bike pulled out his gun, smashed her passenger side window and pulled the gun on Veronica and brutally shot her to death countless times. No one could do anything to save her, she died instantly. It was a brutal killing.

 

It was a complete to the system and the people of Dublin within in days of her killing took to the streets to root out these drug barons. In the process, John Gilligan himself fled to London after the police seized his property and issued for his arrest. After a lengthy court extradtion hearing. The London courts decided to hand him over to their counterparts in Dublin. Mr Gilligan was sentenced up to 28 years in prison. Most of his accomplaces are serving life term imprisonment. In less than a year, drug use amongst teens dropped by 15%, that's good news. I was in Ireland not too long ago, I can say from experience, things have improved in the last ten years or so.

 

Most people in Ireland remember where they were on June 26, 1996, when the tragic events took place. Veronica is survived by her husband, who has become a passionate advocate in getting teens off drugs on behalf of his late wife. He still fights the good fight. She is also survived by her son, whose all grown up now. A sinner, a saint, a soldier, caught up in a war that ultimately took away her life.

 

Having done some research on Veronica Guerin, I've developed much respect for this lovely lady. She made a difference and I hope the people of the Republic Of Ireland never forget.

 

Rohale

[Paul Revere]

Rohale;

 

I agree with you, I thought this was a great movie, and I thought that Cate Blanchette did a great job. It is a great true story, and more people should see it.

 

The bad news is, that for some reason, the critics didn't like it at all, and the movie died at the box office. I get so frustrated by so many great movies that don't get wide distribution, and the credit that they deserve. We get tons of dumb movie-plex drivel, but really good movies for adults come and go so quickly. If you don't see them when they are first released, they are gone before you know it.

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

Spot on Ro. It was a fantastic film indeed~

 

Blanchet shines in everything she does, and 'Guerin' was no different. As mentioned above, the movie didn't do well in either distribution or reviews, so it's DVD release was somewhat lackluster in the PR department.

 

It's really a shame that some of the most intelligent & gripping films aren't ever fully appreciated or advertised. Another couple of films along those same lines to me were 'Saved' and the very tongue-in-cheek 'Drop Dead Georgeous.'

 

(A sidenote: Kirstie Alley is friggin' hilarious. I cannot wait for her series 'Fat Actress' on Showtime.)

 

Warmest Always,

 

 

 

Benjamin Nicholas