Courage comes in kelly green

I’ve said it many times: The five most frightening words to a film critic are “based on a true story,” with “inspired by a true story” following close behind. I say that after having seen “Veronica Guerin,” the bio-pic of the martyred Irish journalist who was gunned down in 1996 in retaliation for stories that she had written about the illegal Irish drug trade. And truth be told, the 10 chilling words listed above don’t apply.

Oh, I can’t be sure that the movie tells everything straight. Cinema art never reveals the actual truth, opting instead for what plays well on the big screen. Yet with the luminous Cate Blanchett starring as Guerin, director Joel Schumacher could have used an old “South Park” script and the film would still have worked. Which it does, despite a drawn-out ending that threatens to make Guerin look like journalism’s Joan of Arc. “Veronica Guerin” isn’t frightening, except in the way that it’s intended. It’s an object lesson in perseverance and (this is mean to be ironic) courage.