When the Sky Falls is a 2000 film à clef directed by John Mackenzie and starring Joan Allen. The narrative centres on a fictionalised reporter based on Veronica Guerin, who wrote about drug-related crime for the Sunday Independent, and her eventual murder.
The film received negative reviews, with criticism towards its directing, writing, script, and renaming of the characters, though Allen's performance was better received. Its lack of a better connection to Guerin's story was also widely panned. Another film based on the same story, entitled Veronica Guerin, was released in 2003, to far stronger reviews and had Cate Blanchett in the title role.
Contents
Cast
Joan Allen as Sinead Hamilton
Patrick Bergin as Mackey
Pete Postlethwaite as Martin Shaughnessy
Liam Cunningham as John Cosgrove
Karl Argue as Smokey/Teenager
Jimmy Smallhorne as Mickey O'Fagan
Kevin McNally as Tom Hamilton
Fearghal Geraghty as Colum Hamilton
Gerard Mannix Flynn as Dave Hackett
Danny O'Carroll as Shaughnessy's son
Production
When the Sky Falls was filmed in Ireland.