At times you have to think Veronica would have just stopped, but the script builds her character in a way that lets you know she won't. Tension always seems to be high because of it, as the audience can't expect just how far she'll go. That's not so much a great script as it is just a great true-life story, one that needed to be told to a wider audience. (**** out of *****)
This is an absolutely stunning transfer, except for one (major) problem. The black levels are all over the place. They vary in intensity from scene to scene, making for a jarring experience. Most of the film is fairly drab and dark, so it's an issue that doesn't just cure itself. When they're not in play, flesh tones and color is dead-on perfect. Detail is high and compression issues seem to be well under control. It's THX approved and that doesn't mean all that much when there's such a glaring problem. (***)
Overkill is the word for the audio. This is not a film that needs a DTS mix in any form, but it got one. Both the 5.1 and DTS tracks are solid, though there's not very much to listen to besides dialogue. There are a few pieces of the soundtrack that hammer home some bass and crowded areas offer some nice immersion, but that's it. It's no fault of the mix; it's just not a movie that needs major digital audio to work. (***)
The extras here are solid, just not incredible. "Public Mask. Private Fears" leads the way as a decent making-of. It doesn't focus on the movie completely, branching off to the real people in Veronica's life, including co-workers and her brother. The interviews are obviously taken from a different documentary. Still, those segments are brief and most of it is filled with interviews from Schumacher, Jerry Bruckheimer and Blanchett. In a smart move, they spend more time talking about the real woman then the movie version. The entire thing runs about thirteen minutes.
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