June 26 - Veronica Guerin

Today’s film is a biographical drama with scenes that happen on June 26. I hope you will watch this film tonight and enjoy it.

VERONICA GUERIN                     

On June 26, 1996 [00:23 to 3:42] Veronica Guerin, instead of going to jail for all her unpaid speeding tickets gets off with just a fine, but on the way home she’s assassinated by the Dublin Mob. We flash back to two years ago when she started to write about the drug traffic in Dublin. She meets John Taynor who is involved in the underworld. He is willing to help her to some extent, but also steers her towards Gerry Hutch as the main supplier because he’s afraid of the real boss, John Gilligan. She pursues Hutch as the lead supplier until she figures out he’s not involved and suspect’s he is trying to start a gang war so he can take over the drug trade. Gilligan rules the Dublin underworld with an iron fist. Someone puts a bullet into her house and the shoots her in the leg. Her family begs her to stop, but she refuses.  She continues to work on tracing the illegal proceeds of drug sales to Gilligan. She finally confronts him and he beats her up, but she declines to prosecute so she won’t get taken off the story. Gilligan threatens to kidnap her son and kill her. Taynor betrays her to Gilligan. She is killed leaving traffic court on June 26, 1996. [1:19:45 to 1:27:39]  As a result of her death, the Criminal Assets Branch was given the power to seize unexplained assets. Gilligan was extradited and convicted of drug trafficking. Taynor continues to fight extradition from Portugal. Many of Gilligan’s minions were also convicted of various crimes.    

An interesting film. However it is somewhat clichéd. This is a movie about a crusader who puts themselves and their family in danger. In the end I’m not sure if she accomplished any permanent result that justified the sacrifice.

Veronica Guerin: The Life and Death of a Crime Reporter by Emily O’Reilly (Vintage, London, 1998) at page xi and the movie at 1:07 and 1:19:45 give her death date

Producer - Jerry Bruckheimer

Director - Joel Schumacher

Screenplay - Carol Doyle and Mary Agnes Donoghue

Runtime – 1 hour 38 minutes

Released – July 11,  2003

Starring –

Cate Blanchett as Veronica Guerin

Gerard McSorley as John Gilligan

Ciarán Hinds as John Traynor

Brenda Fricker as Bernie Guerin

Barry Barnes as Graham Turley

Simon O'Driscoll as Cathal Turley

Don Wycherley as Chris Mulligan

Copyright by Ivan Walters in 2014.