I find Joel Schumacher very hit-and-miss, but I have always liked Cate Blanchett and the film's subject really interested me, so I sat down to watch it. And I was really impressed. Veronica Guerin contains one of Schumacher's superior directing jobs, it is efficient without becoming too ham-fisted. Cate Blanchett is outstanding, I'd go as far to say after Elizabeth this is perhaps her second best performance. The support cast, particularly Colin Farrell also give excellent performances. There are no over-saturated colours in sight, instead it is quite gritty but done in a striking way. Veronica Guerin is quite harsh and hard-hitting, however it never fails to be moving and intelligent. Crisp dialogue and a compelling story also help. The ending is one of the better ones I've seen in a while, and Guerin herself is just a remarkable person. There may be the odd scene that drags, but overall Veronica Guerin is fantastic and one of the best of Schumacher and Blanchett's careers. 9/10 Bethany Cox

In 1996 Dublin, hard charging reporter Veronica Guerin (Cate Blanchett) is attacked on the road. Two years earlier, she started writing about the rampaging spread of drugs in Ireland. Her main source of information is underworld character John Traynor (Ciarán Hinds). His boss John Gilligan (Gerard McSorley) isn't too happy that he keeps talking to the pretty journalist. She tries to balance her family life with her kids and the dangerous world of drugs in her work.

The story is a little scattered and director Joel Schumacher is barely able to corral a coherent story. Luckily, this is more of a character study and Blanchett makes her a fascinating character. She has no off switch and supremely confident. Along with Hinds and McSorley, they save the movie from Schumacher's TV level work.

On June, 26th 1996, in the Naas road, the Irish journalist of The Sunday Independent, Veronica Guerin (Cate Blanchet),was executed by two men on a motorcycle. Veronica started researching and writing a series of matters about the powerful barons of drugs, and was eliminated by one of them. The movie begins with Veronica being murdered and dramatizes her last months of life, showing her fighting against the drug dealers, her life with her family and her relationship with her colleagues. In the end, shows the consequences of her death. The first time I saw the story of this brave journalist was in "When the Sky Falls", and the excellent underrated actress Joan Allen gave a magnificent performance as usual and I found the movie outstanding. Although I prefer "When the Sky Falls", Joe Schumacher's version is also a great version of the life and death of this martyr. Cate Blanchett is excellent in the role of Veronica Guerin, but it is not explained the reason why Veronica was so obsessed and usually avoided the presence of other reporters. She was originally graduated as accountant, and later she decided to be a journalist, and her graduation was when she was thirty-one years old. Therefore, she felt the need of going deeper and deeper in her matters to prove her value to her community. This information is available in the extras of "When the Sky is Falling". I saw "Veronica Guerin" in an American DVD, and there are some expressions, probably common in Ireland, that I did not understand and did not find in the dictionary. Collin Farrell has a minor participation as a guy full of tattoos on the sidewalk and the cast has a great performance, in a touching story that hooks the attention of the viewer until the last scene. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "O Custo da Coragem – Veronica Guerin" ("The Cost of the Courage – Veronica Guerin")