The world could use a few more people like
Katherine Gun. Based on the true story of a British Intelligence officer discovering her government's willingness to assist the United States in moving forward with an invasion of Iraq regardless of actual facts, director
Gavin Hood's film stays focused on the personal cost to whistleblower Katherine Gun (
Keira Knightley) as the film takes us through her discovery of a memo from the NSA asking for help blackmailing nations on the
United Nations Security Council in order to rubber stamp the 2003 Iraq invasion through to her day in court a year later.
Knightley is terrific in the role of the defiant but terrified woman whose actions cause ramifications not just for herself but for her husband (
Adam Bakri) who is nearly deported by a spiteful government that leaves her twisting in the wind for the better part of a year. Her supporting cast isn't too shabby either including
Matt Smith as the reporter who broke the story (but who only shares a single scene with Knightley on-screen),
Rhys Ifans as another reporter on the scent, and
Ralph Fiennes and
Matthew Goode who emerge when the case moves to trial.
