Watched this by chance on late TV one night and found it very gritty and far more realistic than the already seen Cate Blanchett version of Veronica Guerin. The cast were a lot more 'Irish' looking and the script wasn't so Americanized. The whole pace of the movie and the sets were good too. Patrick Bergin is another brilliant Irish actor and is not in nearly enough Irish films about Ireland. The social scene, nightclubs and all were all bang on and I liked the pace of the film as well. The film didn't receive nearly enough recognition for it's stark look into Irish drug culture and to how low people will stoop to get their fix. Anyone who's seen Veronica Guerin would do well to give this a look......

Having watched this *after* seeing the more recent Veronica Guerin (2003), I can only say: don't bother with this one if you want the real story. While this is an interesting story, they must have been hampered by lawyers as it uses precisely no real names and leaves you wondering if it was all made up. Sadly (or thankfully, depending on how you look at it) it wasn't made up, but see Cate Blanchett playing Guerin for real and you'll get a much better idea of what happened.

The name Joan Allen, so often associated with high quality, is used to attract innocent video renters to this film. They will be disappointed. What is alleged to be the story of a brave Irish journalist is instead a two-part mystery: a) why did Joan Allen agree to do this film? and b) what were all those people with thick brogues saying? Not only was a good deal of the dialogue unintelligible, but the film seemed like it began in the middle of the story, which was disconcerting - among so much that was disconcerting. A very dissipated Patrick Bergin, a long way from Sleeping with the Enemy, plays a frustrated cop. There's enough graphic violence, swearing with Irish brogues and skeevy looking characters to make three more films. No, thanks, one was MORE than enough.

Based on the life and shocking murder of real Irish crime reporter, Veronica Guerin, Joan Allen gives a solid performance as gutsy Sunday Globe hack Sinead Hamilton.John Mackenzie's film remains largely faithful to its real life inspiration's story and does not hold back on the brutality of the Dublin underworld. Nothing is spared from the slaying of Pete Postlethwaite's Martin Cahill style character Shaughnessy to the chilling death of a young heroin addict in a Dublin nightclub. Funded by Rupert Murdoch's Sky Movies channel in the UK, the movie sometimes struggles to overcome its tight budget and the made for television feel. However in 'The Long Good Friday' director's capable hands, it often succeeds particularly with a spectacular car chase through the centre of Dublin.Where the film really scores is in its supporting performances - most notably, Jimmy Smallhorne as Hamilton's underworld confidante, Ruairi Conroy as a heroin addict, Liam Cunningham and Postlethwaite as old school crooks and particularly, Gerard Flynn as Hamilton's nemesis Hackett and Gavin Kielty as the skinhead, Tattoo. Mackenzie also somehow manages to wring out decent performances from Patrick Bergin as the frustrated cop, Mackey and Jason Barry as his partner.If there are drawbacks it is the flatness of the relationship between Hamilton and her husband (Kevin McNally) - oddly reminiscent of the relationship between Lacey and her husband in Cagney and Lacey. The newspaper scenes are also a bit hackneyed - bearing little resemblance to real life newsrooms.A superior film to Dublin crime pics, Ordinary Decent Criminal and The Vicious Circle, it still falls short of the visual, narrative and performing heights of John Boorman's The General. Nevertheless, When the Sky Falls is still good entertainment and one of the more honest biopics you are likely to see in cinemas this year. It will be interesting to see how this film travels beyond Ireland where Guerin's death caused so much outrage.