Of the featured women in this week's new releases,
As with
Guerin, in the mid '90s, wrote about controversial issues like pedophilia in the Catholic Church. But her investigative reporting on the increase in illegal drug trafficking and its impact on young people became to her more than just a news story. Her personal efforts to identify and bring to justice those responsible for the problem led to a tragedy that became the stuff of headlines.
Movieguide's critic calls it "a tough, sobering look at an evil system and the fight it took to overcome an established system of crime. As opposed to the steady stream of desensitizing action thrillers Hollywood has been feeding the public in recent years, the loss of life in this movie is a realistic event felt at a visceral, emotional level. In the end, Ms. Guerin, even if unknowingly, put the words of the Apostle Paul to Titus into practice: 'And let our people also learn to engage in good deeds to meet pressing needs, that they may not be unfruitful.'"
For David DiCerto (Catholic News Service), the film is "ultimately engaging," but not entirely successful. He explains: "The story also is not well-served by the filmmaker employing visuals and music that seem to cue the audience to the desired emotional response. Such manipulative attempts to manufacture emotion, rather than trusting in the narrative's inherent drama, diminish the film's overall cathartic impact."
Mainstream critics are divided over the picture. Many approve of it for Blanchett's fine work, but others are discouraged over the liberties taken with the story.
from Film Forum, 11/06/03Another Hollywood release