Veronica Guerin (2003, U.S.)

Cate Blanchett is one of my all-time favorite actresses. No matter what part she's in, she's brilliant. This was no exception. She shone in the true story of Veronica Guerin, an Irish reporter who exposed the Dublin drug trade in the mid-1990s. She carries on through threats, a gunshot to the leg, and a beating, determined to clean up Dublin society. She's ultimately murdered in 1996.

Veronica Guerin obviously had to be a fearless, determined, and admirable woman, which Blanchett conveys well. Unfortunately, I found the writing to be sometimes convoluted and not fast-paced enough for the subject. Perhaps most Irish viewers familiar with the subject would have followed better that doesn't change the pacing.

Overall I found it educational, a great performance for Blanchett, but just too slow.

Rating: 3.0

Intermission (2003, Ireland)

This film begs comparison to Crash in that it follows the lives of a group of Irish men and women whose lives intersect in the most unlikely and also likely ways.

It was seamlessly pieced together, almost like a dance. Parts were laugh-out-loud funny, parts were touching, parts were hard to watch. The writing was very strong, as was the performance of a great ensemble. I would recommend this one.

Rating: 3.5

Brothers (2009, U.S.)

This is the kind of modern war film that there should be more of. I think that they really failed in marketing this one, however. While they made it seem like a movie about two brothers in love with the same woman, that was nowhere near the truth.

Instead, it was about the psychological damage done to a good soldier who was taken prisoner by the Taliban and forced to do unspeakable things, things that he couldn't tell anyone about—not his wife, not his superiors, and not his brother. Tobey Maguire did an absolutely brilliant job of portraying a man whose control is unraveling. It was an interesting contrast to his brother, an ex-con who spends his time trying to hold his brother's family together, for little thanks and a mountain of accusations. Jake Gyllenhaal and Natalie Portman are two of the most talented actors I can think of, and they were wonderful too.

And of course, beautiful score by Thomas Newman. That man has a gift.

Rating: 3.5

Camille (2007, U.S.)

Possibly the most bizarre movie I have ever, ever seen.

Silas is a thief who marries his parole officer's niece Camille. He's not allowed out of the state, but he uses his future wife's uncle's sympathies in the hope that he can use his honeymoon to escape to Canada. Camille has always dreamed of honeymooning at Niagara Falls, and she cheerfully deludes herself into thinking that the honeymoon will change her scummy man for the better.

What follows is the strangest road trip movie of all time. Because Silas and Camille get in a fatal motorcycle accident. That's right, fatal. Camille dies, but she keeps on with her honeymoon. And it's her death that finally pushes Silas in the right direction.

They have all sorts of adventures, running from the police, hanging out with carnies, visiting the falls... Franco and Miller give just the right touch of humor and seriousness to this macabre love story, creating a strangely enjoyable movie experience.