Our friends at The Projection Booth Podcast discuss V. I. Warshawski (1991)! “Noirvember 2025 keeps rolling as Mike teams up with author Dahlia Schweitzer and artist Rahne Alexander to crack open V.I. Warshawski (1991), Jeff Kanew’s glossy take on Sara Paretsky’s groundbreaking detective. Kathleen Turner commands the screen as V.I., whose night on the town swerves into murder, a dead former Blackhawks star, and a teenager who refuses to stay out of danger.
This episode brings together an incredible lineup: Sara Paretsky, creator of the V.I. Warshawski novels; screenwriters David Aaron Cohen, Nick Thiel, and Warren Leight; and director Jeff Kanew. They share the inside story of adapting an iconic literary detective, shaping Turner’s formidable on-screen persona, and navigating the film’s winding path from page to screen.
Along the way, we dig into Chicago’s cinematic grit, the film’s place in early-’90s studio genre filmmaking, and—yes—we spoil who killed Boom Boom and finally reveal what the initials V. I. actually stand for.”
Listen here.
Categories: Notes
The Cultural Gutter 
Three comments:
This is NOT a good movie, I am sorry to say, because I love the character and the books (at least until I tired of the formula).
I met Sara Paretsky at a booksigning in Bryn Mawr in, I believe, 2002. She is quiet and reserved in person, though her fierce intelligence shines through. Her inscription was very thoughtful.
Angela Goethals is a family friend and wonderful person. Her first-ever line of dialogue in a feature film is…memorable. 🙂
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