
“Why would anyone want to kill Veronica Guerin?”
In this true story, Veronica Guerin is an investigative reporter for an Irish newspaper. As the drug trade begins to bleed into the mainstream, Guerin decides to take on and expose those responsible. Beginning at the bottom with addicts, Guerin then gets in touch with John Traynor, a paranoid informant. Not without some prodding, Traynor leads her to John Gilligan, the ruthless head of the operation, who does not take kindly to Guerin's nosing.
Release Date: 7/11/2003
Runtime: 98 minutes
Languages: English
Director: Joel Schumacher
Budget: $17.0M
Revenue: $9.4M
Companies: Jerry Bruckheimer Films, Touchstone Pictures, Persevere Productions Ltd., World 2000 Entertainment
Countries: Ireland, United Kingdom, United States of America
John Chard
You'd do the same. If you saw those kids on the street, you would do the same. The assassination of Dublin crime reporter Veronica Guerin in 1996 shook Ireland to the core, her murder saw a public swell of determination to rid the country of its drug peddlers. Joel Schumacher's film is an in depth interpretation of the woman, her beliefs, her family life, her complexities and her stoicism to root out the drug barons putting liquid death into the arms of the many. Thankfully avoiding Hollywood clichés, it's often gritty and well thought out, Schumacher and his writers, Carol Doyle and Mary Agnes Donoghue, don't soft soap the Guerin image, her faults are laid bare alongside her searing strengths. The dangers of her work are very prominent throughout, leading to some suspenseful and fearsome scenes. Cate Blanchett as Guerin is inspired casting, an actress capable of covering all facets of the human condition, and in support Ciaran Hinds, Gerard McSorley and Brenda Fricker give powerful performances. 8/10

Cate Blanchett
Veronica Guerin

Gerard McSorley
John Gilligan

Ciarán Hinds
John Traynor

Brenda Fricker
Bernie Guerin

Don Wycherley
Chris Mulligan

Barry Barnes
Graham Turley
Simon O'Driscoll
Cathal Turley
Emmet Bergin
Aengus Fanning

Charlotte Bradley
Ann Harris

Mark Lambert
Willy Kealy
Garrett Keogh
Tony Gregory

Maria McDermottroe
Geraldine Gilligan
2012