Veronica Guerin

Veronica Guerin: Cate Blanchett

Veronica Guerin

Cast: Cate Blanchett, Gerard McSorley, Brenda Fricker, Barry Barnes

The film starts with her murder in the Naas Road by two men on a motorcycle on June 26, 1996 before returning to the past to examine the last 18 months of her life. Veronica Guerin, a feisty Irish reporter for Sunday Independent, has been digging into and writing about Dublin's drug trade. She begins with the prepubescent addicts who shoot up on the street and works her way up the big dealers. She flirts with sources in the criminal underworld, notably John Traynor. As her investigation deepens, things heat up. She is beaten and shot and the life of her young son is threatened. Her informant begins to give her inaccurate information in an attempt to protect the identity of his boss, John Gilligan and his own skin. Traynor misleads Guerin by offering up criminal Gerry "The Monk" Hutch as a red herring. She pursues him with a vengeance, only to discover that he is not involved. Despite Traynor's attempts to distract her, the threat of violence, and the fears of her family, Guerin refuses to give up. In the end, her determination costs her her life, but the resulting martyrdom helps her cause.