The age of the newspaper reporter as crusading hero is given an excellent treatment in this biographical drama. Veronica Guerin (Cate Blanchett) was assassinated after writing a series of revelatory articles exposing the drug overlords who battled for control of Dublin in the mid-1990s. Like Erin Brockovich, Guerin pursued a moral goal. Unlike Brockovich, she paid the ultimate price for championing the truth. Her courageous story has already provided the inspiration for the 2000 film When the Sky Falls, which starred Joan Allen, but director Joel Schumacher's reconstruction of events works thanks to Blanchett's brilliant portrayal of Guerin. Colin Farrell also offers a sly portrait of a druggie informer and Brenda Fricker a poignant cameo as Veronica's mother, while Schumacher unleashes the ripples of tension to terrific effect. This is certainly a headline-worthy report.

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.