Veronica Guerin (2003)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Joel Schumacher

Writers (WGA):

Carol Doyle (story)
Carol Doyle (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

17 October 2003 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Why would anyone want to kill Veronica Guerin?

Plot:

An Irish journalist is assassinated by drug dealers she wrote about in a series of stories.

Plot Keywords:

Journalist | Veronica Guerin | Drug Lord | Drug Dealer | Reporter

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 3 wins & 13 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Thur. Nov. 19

2:00 AM

USA

Cast

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	...	Anne Harris
Mark Lambert	...	Willie Kealy
Garrett Keogh	...	Tony Gregory
Maria McDermottroe	...	Geraldine Gilligan
Paudge Behan	...	Brian Meehan
Joe Hanley	...	Eugene 'Dutchie' Holland
David Murray	...	Charles Bowden

Also Known As:

Chasing the Dragon: The Veronica Guerin Story (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence, language and some drug content.

Runtime:

98 min | USA:92 min

Country:

USA | Ireland | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Indonesia:Dewasa | Iceland:12 (video rating) | Iceland:14 (original rating) | Australia:M (TV rating) | Argentina:13 | Australia:MA | Brazil:16 | Canada:14A | Finland:K-15 | Germany:12 (w) | Ireland:15PG | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:15 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:NC-16 | South Korea:15 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R (certificate #39463)

Filming Locations:

Dublin Airport, County Dublin, Ireland

Company:

Touchstone Pictures

Trivia:

One of the characters in this film was based on actual gangster Martin Cahill (pronounced: Kah-hill). Cahill was the subject of John Boorman's film, The General (1998).

Goofs:

Factual errors: Tony Gregory has not worn a tie in public since his election in 1982. It has caused much debate in the Irish Parliament because of its dress code.

Quotes:

Veronica Guerin: You'd do the same. If you saw those kids on the street, you would do the same.

Movie Connections:

References Ordinary Decent Criminal (2000)

Soundtrack:

One More Day

Solid True-Story Irish Crime Tale

Cate Blanchett has done it again - played someone you can't take your eyes off of, and not because she's a classic beauty but she's just a good actress and plays such intense roles. Here, she's the single-minded outraged Irish reporter out to expose the drug trafficking in Ireland in the mid 1990s. Yes, it's based on a real person, a very real Veronica Guerin, who took her life in her hands with her desire to have this problem taken care off so the kids in her country wouldn't have such easy access to harmful drugs.

According to the film story, the drug problem was ignored or the police were just ineffective in dealing with it, so Guerin goes after the mob as an investigative reporter. Her husband pleads with her to stop, knowing she could easily be killed. The gangsters were tough and realistically portrayed on film. There is no talk-now-shoot-later nonsense. You mess with them, you will pay. That's the message they give Guerin and you'll have to see the film to find out what happened.

Yup, this is an attention-getter from the start and especially with Blanchett in the lead. A good story and highly recommended.