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I hate to give North Country a relatively low vote because this is such an important issue, and I appreciate the good intentions of director Niki Caro, and the A-list actors who no doubt took a big pay cut when agreeing to take a role.

On the other hand, I feel disappointed, a little angry, as well as insulted as a woman that this hugely important story was made into a melodrama that flattens out what really happened, and somehow manages to diminish the political nature of sexual harassment, even while seeming to highlight it.

At least 90 percent of the problem had to do with Michael Seitzman's script.

In the interview with Seitzman on the DVD, he makes clear that he didn't think the sexual harassment story was the real story. The real story, he said, was the traumatic experience Josie had in high school, and her relationship with her son.

Therefore he should have written a script for Lifetime focusing on what he felt was the "real story". He should not have used one of the most important cases for sexual harassment in legal history as the vehicle for telling this other story.

The producers should have demanded a script that more closely resembled Susannah Grant's Erin Brockovich. The sequence of victimization after victimization depicted in North Country didn't let us get to know Josie's character in any depth. We saw her slammed against the wall again and again, from beginning to end. We see that she stands up against the oppression, but we aren't taken into her sensibility, her choices, her process, her blind spots, character change, etc, etc, like in EB. Likewise, the lack of complexity in the male "macho" characters also flattens the story, and takes away from the real difficulties in challenging sexism and sexual harassment. In real life, character complexity of those who oppress or who defend oppressors is part of what makes the problem of sexual harassment difficult to fight.

I read an interview with Niki Caro, and though I think she's a very talented director, I got the sense that she didn't really get the politics or history behind sexual harassment. It seems things aren't as bad in New Zealand as they are here in the U.S. This is a foreign culture to her, and Northern Minnesota is certainly a foreign culture. I wish she would have spent more time fully understanding the issues and cultural dynamics (including the accent and mannerisms of the area, etc, which were sprinkled into the movie, but not rigorously replicated) before undertaking the project. If she had gone the extra mile to immerse herself in the issue and the region, perhaps she would have demanded a total rewrite of the script.

NOTRH COUNTRY is stark proof that truth is stranger than fiction!

BUT FIRST... Let us FOCUS on the Title´s Content and Context:

The Director, New-Zealander Niki Caro (Whale Rider), perhaps a very apt directorial choice, being a woman, yet at the same time, precisely not being American! In the mines of Minnesota in 1989, only 3% of the workers are women. There is a whole confluence of constantly orchestrated pressure applied against all female miners intended to get them to resign.

Charlize Theron (Who won the Oscar for best actress in MONSTER in the role of the only female serial-killer in U. S. history, Florida's Aileen Wuornos) as expected, is absolutely magnificent as Josey Aimes, a woman whose only motivation is wanting to provide a better life for her two children. The fight is quite a tough one for Josey. At first, everyone seems clearly to be set against her. Neither her friends, nor his parents, not even her own children give her their support! But Josey is a very stubborn human being who does not permit anything or anyone to discourage her.

Gradually, her unshakeable character, her unparalleled courage and the enormity of the injustice committed against her finally begin working in her favor.

NORTH COUNTRY at times does exhibit some rather lethargic moments, but the cast and the quality of the story are so outstanding that is easy to overlook this minor flaw!

Frances McDormand (1996 Oscar winner for FARGO) also shines in the multifaceted role of best friend; coworker, representing women's interests among union workers and victim of one of the worst evils occasionally affecting mine workers: Lung Cancer! Woody Harrelson (Natural Born Killers) is convincing as the ex-football player town hero turned lawyer who takes on Josey's case. Sissy Spacek (Carrie: original version) as the dutiful Mom and Richard Jenkins (Six Feet Under) as the skeptical dad.

Almost everyone who works or has worked recently in the United States knows that the problem of sexual harassment in the workplace is something that is taken extremely seriously. This is thanks, in large part, to Josey Aimes, and the struggle she was forced to wage against that Minnesota mining company 30 years ago! It is really worth traveling to NORTH COUNTRY to see both Charlize Theron's and Frances McDormand's Oscar Nomination performances!

...ENJOY! / DISFRUTELA!

Any Comments, Questions or Observations.... in ENGLISH... o en ESPAÑOL... are most Welcome!

I thought this would be one of those issue-based legal drama movies about sexual harassment where the main character is harassed a couple of times and then she eventually fights back. I was apprehensive about buying it. I mean I wanted to see it but whether it was worth buying was another thing. After checking, I decided to gamble. I bought the DVD and watched it and discovered that 'North Country' is about much more than sexual harassment. As the film progresses towards the end, we are addressed more important themes such as the consequence of rape on the relationship between a mother and child and how her silence is used as a weapon against her. However, while these issues are interestingly dealt with and fit the story they slightly deviate from the main theme of sexual harassment.

Niki Caro does a fine job in directing. Her intentions are sincere. Perhaps the script could have been a little tighter and the courtroom sequences could have been better handled as they are a little too dramatic and unrealistic, especially the judge letting White to argue his case that way. In addition to that, the case became more about Josey's sex life rather than the actual harassment and terrorizing in the workplace. Even though this provides a twist in the story and explains a lot of Josie's situation, it takes away from the main theme. Also most of the male characters have been caricatured. I understand the film is about Josey which may be the reason why these characters weren't given much attention but even Josey's father is portrayed as a misogynist and all of a sudden he is shown to have a change of heart. It would have liked to see this characters inner conflict as he plays a crucial role in Josey's life.

In the technical front, the cinematography is smooth and gives us some spectacular glimpse of the snowy landscape and the coal mines. The sound effect and country-feel soundtrack are quite good too.

Charlize Theron deserves all the recognition she got for giving a strong, confidant and heartfelt performance as the brave hard-working and headstrong Josey Aimes. She breathes fire into her role and, along with Frances McDormand, she's the heart of the film. McDormand performs naturally and her tragic character provides some great comic relief. She has some witty one-liners that bring a smile. While most of the guys are portrayed as nasty sleazy men, Sean Bean's Kyle is the complete opposite. Nonetheless, the actor does a fine job (quite a deviation from what the type of roles he's more famous for). Harrelson's Bill White suffers from poor characterization. His character is a bit too sketchy. Harrelson tries the best with what he's got and turns in a decent enough performance. Richard Jenkins too suffers from poor writing. Sissy Spacek has a tiny role but she has a subtle dignified presence and her character contributes to one of the major turning points of the story. Rusty Schwimmer and Michelle Monaghan are adequate.

'North Country' isn't an easy film to watch because of the explicit scenes of sexual harassment and the haunting rape scene but it is a relevant film. Not only is it about women's rights, it's about everyone's right to live a life with dignity, to work with dignity. It's about standing up against injustice rather than turning a blind eye. It's about protecting your loved ones and fighting for what you believed in. Though 'North Country' isn't without its share of flaws (it is a little preachy and sometimes too dramatic), it brings forth some important themes well enough and with the support of good direction and strong performances, it's worth watching.

Josey Aimes (Charlize Theron) leaves her abusive husband and returns to her hometown in Northern Minnesota. After a prompt from her old friend Glory (Frances McDormand), Josey now a single mother with two children to support, seeks employment at the town iron mine plant. Predominantly employing men, Josey is expecting the work to be hard and gruelling, what she wasn't expecting tho is the mental and sexual harassment that the women and herself are expected to tolerate. Finally having enough, she starts to speak out about her treatment, but she finds that there are few allies both at work and at home. Her career, her life and her family are all sure to be affected as things reach breaking point.

North Country is inspired by the 2002 book Class Action: The Story of Lois Jenson, which details the landmark case of Jenson V Eveleth Taconite Company that changed the sexual harassment law.

There is always a danger in film land that serious, based on facts topics get too much of a Hollywood sheen. So shall it be with Niki Caro's (Whale Rider) interpretation of this most important part of American law. The impact is there, very much so, but in the need to keep the audience on board, one feels they are being force fed drama when really none was needed. Having a beauty like Charlize Theron playing your lead hardly helps cast off the glossy feel of the production. "Rightly" nominated for Best Actress (she has gusto in abundance), Theron is however miscast as regards the nature of the piece, her aura and star bank-ability his hard to ignore during the more dramatic moments. As the New York Times review noted on its release, "it's a star vehicle with heart," and it's impossible to argue with that astute summary.

Still there is much to enjoy here. In amongst the annoying contrivances put our way to further the emotional aspects, there beats a serious and dramatic heart. Coupled with a more than competently handled court case finale, and aided by McDormand's highly effective performance, North Country makes its valid point in spite of its obvious problems. Though the film didn't make back its budget of $30 million, it got people talking about the topic at its core. Putting the revolting issue of sexual harassment back in the public conscious can never be a bad thing, so with that, North Country achieved its aims. If it's as impacting as its cousins, Norma Rae, Silkwood and Erin Brockovich is debatable, but it is potent and it is acted with aplomb from its principals. It's just regrettable that one can't quite shake off knowing it's all a bit too glossy for its own good. 7/10

This is an important film about more than just Sexual harassment. It is more than a movie about Women. This movie deals with true courage. About the possibility just one person can accomplish!!! It's about taking a stand, and knowing right from wrong!!

This movie was very tastefully done. It features a A list cast. With A list acting. It tackles a very important and very necessary message.

I'm rather puzzled with some of the reviews. However, to each their own.

I found the movie was well acted and well done.

I also found the ending to be perfect!!!

Dramatic license is certainly forgivable but this film would have been much more effective if not for the beyond-Perry-Mason touches in the courtroom where the plaintiff's case is rescued at the 11th hour and 59th minute by antics that wouldn't pass muster in any courtroom in America, unless the defendant's attorney (Linda Emond) was utterly incompetent and the judge was a blithering idiot. Surely it should have been possible for a competent script writer to bring the drama to its conclusion in a more believable way. The manifest absurdity of the last 15 minutes of the movie undermined (for me) what was otherwise another excellent performance by Charlize Theron and the usual outstanding work of Frances McDormand. For those who haven't seen her on the stage, this may have been the first time most movie goers will have encountered Linda Emond, who plays the defense attorney. She is a gifted actress who deserves better than being asked to stand by like a cigar store Indian while the plaintiff's attorney (Woody Harrelson) commits every procedural violation that could possibly be conceived. Don't blame Harrelson, however. The one-time goofy bartender of "Cheers" actually does very well in the scenes outside the courtroom. Frankly, I wish this film had stuck more closely to the facts and avoided the phony fireworks at the end.

30 December 2005. North Country is "Erin Brockovich" times five. This is a powerful, compelling movie that is solid, hard-edged, and penetrating to the core of important social issues today. From domestic violence, sexual harassment, to sexual stereotypes, to dysfunctional families, to parent-child relationships, this movie is one of the most incredible movies to come out in many, many years. If it had been nominated for best picture in 2000 when "Erin Brockovich" lost to "Gladiator," it is likely that it would have an good chance of winning. This is a superlative movie with great acting, strong performances, and wonderful, intimate, and emotional tough script that powers home. Except for a weak and unnecessary final scene, this movie seems perfect in all its elements. Nine out of Ten Stars.

In the iron mines of Northern Minnesota circa 1989, a single mother of two with a shady-lady past goes to work as a miner and encounters personally degrading harassment from the mostly male crew. A compassionate and sensitive rewriting of a true incident--one that took some 10 years to resolve in the courts--but possibly overcrowded with too much melodramatic content. Supporting characters (like Frances McDormand's dump truck driver and Sissy Spacek's salt-of-the-earth mama) do not get enough quality screen-time to completely validate the time which they do have. The overripe finale is also questionable (were these filmmakers ever in a courtroom before?), though it does provide the audience with the emotional release it needs. In the lead, Charlize Theron gives a finely-wrought, gripping performance; she shows her guts, fear and bravery, but I'm not sure how convincing she is as mother to an older teenage boy (it seems a little soon for Theron). Does the film show all sides and give both the men and the women a fair shake? Probably not, but it's surprisingly not a man-haters movie, either. Told from the female protagonist's point of view, the emphasis is on her endurance against a certain group of men, taking a stand and speaking up for herself. It's inspiring, if a little corny. **1/2 from ****

Everyone should watch this to get a reality check on what women have to go through to get a fairer deal. Every country has a history of sexist oppression. Notably, every atrocity in this film was taken verbatim from victim accounts. According to the filmmakers, they didn't have enough time in the film to display all of the insults. As a movie it's powerful, emotional and uplifting.

It's not accurate to the events its meant to be based on, but I don't care about that. It's the message that's important.

This film addresses the first case of success in which a group of female workers won the firm in court in a class action of harassment and sexual discrimination. Everything happens in the mines of Minnesota but, over a real case, director Niki Caro and screenwriter Michael Seitzman decided to create a deeply melodramatic story centered on the figure of a young woman, mother of two children from different parents and with a past marred by rape and a bad marriage. She becomes the main target of the jokes, obscene gestures and provocations of the miners, who feel that women are stealing jobs from men. The story is very emotional but works well anyway. An interesting point is that, even when things are tense, the two sides are not defined by their sex, that is, even in those moments there are women who are not in favor of complaining, just as there are men who don't approve of the rude and coarse attitudes of their fellows. This allows the public to understand that the issue is not men vs. women, goes far beyond mere sexism.

Charlize Theron is a good actress but seems visually too young for the character sometimes. Anyway, she managed to shine. Richard Jenkins has been OK but acts in a predictable way. Frances McDormand did very well, especially in the final half of the movie, where she really shows talent. Jeremy Renner manages to be truly despicable as the villain. Technically regular, it's a good movie and it deserves to be watched.

When divorced,single mom Josey Aimes(Charlize Theron,who's definitely NOT afraid to get dirty or uglified for a role)begins work in the rural Minnesota Taconite mines--where her father(Richard Jenkins)has worked a long,secure job--even she isn't prepared for the kind of mental,verbal and physical abuse she and her fellow women receive from the fellow miners who(surprise!)don't cotton well to ladies working in the pits with them. She soldiers on for a number of years before she finally has had enough and decides--after being already ignored by management when she complains--to quit and bring a class action suit against the company,fully aware that she is almost alone in this pursuit,save the somewhat reluctant help of a local lawyer and former hometown sports hero(Woody Harrelson).

I wavered on what rating to give this show for these reasons: the acting and visual direction of this film IS,I must confess,quite good. Credit practically the entire cast for the former,and director Niki Caro and cinematography of Chris Menges for the latter,but the overall tone of this movie is 1)very familiar stuff tot the point of reeking of "TV Movie" material, 2)manipulative by a mile, 3)hits on each emotional note--from the sort of "Girl POwer" quiet assertions of the film's script to the overt nastiness displayed by nearly all of the males working the mines--almost in a perfect cue; 4)the fictionalizing the stories,then mixing the time-lines from the actual case the movie and the book it was based on (namely,Jenson v. Eleveth Mines,filed in 1984,settled in 1998;whereas the film is set in 1989 and almost instantly flips to Septemeber 1991,circa the Anita Hill/Clarence THomas hearings,with the events-to-case trial time relationship murky at best);and 5)the sort of "feel good" third act denouement where the town,once boorishly stubborn against the idea of women working in the mines to being stirred by Ms.Aimes' case. An extra storyline of Aimes being raped in school and thus affecting,at least partly,her condition as being a troubled single mom who has a murky knowledge(or lack thereof)of the paternity of her equally troubled son is probably the most emotionally authentic storyline in this movie,but it feels mixed in for purely embellishment sake in this story,thus calling into question just how much this movie truly represented the true events being retold.

A famous saying says what good intentions pave the way to,but I think in this case good intentions pave the construction of a film that is underwhelming and somewhat disappointing. The story of the Eleveth mine workers and the discrimination case they eventually won absolutely deserve3s being retold,but this movie seems to be only interested in invoking it,then crafting an artificial story to frame it,as if for fear that audiences WOULDN'T get this story in the raw. On it's own,this movie's story works enough to interest most viewers,myself included, and the sincerity behind it is true I'm sure. But this film's over-familiarity and manipulation dilute the potency of the message. More entertainment than enlightenment,it's intentions are good but tough to take to heart. WAtch it for the performances,and one should feel better about it,at least marginally.

This is a film that you can repeat watching multiple times and still have different impact in your mind. It is disturbing, touching and moving. Charlize Theron's top-notch acting/ performance is always impactful and somehow soothing. It was the most bizarre & unfair box office fail, given that numerous cretics and audiences rate this film very high score. I would say North Country is the most underrated movie in the era of 2000s.

Raped and abused, supermodel-worthy Charlize Theron (as Josey Aimes) labors in a Minnesota iron mine, so she can "put food on the table" for her two children. At work, Ms. Theron suffers insults and attacks from feces-smearing male chauvinist pigs. Finally, Theron decides to take the sexual harassment to court. Sadly, best pal Frances McDormand (as Glory Dodge) is crippled by "Lou Gehrig's Disease", disillusioned son Thomas Curtis (as Sammy) runs away from home, even female miners and family members line up against her - the case seems hopeless for Theron and hockey playing lawyer Woody Harrelson (as Bill White)...

Director Niki Caro's "North Country" screams nobility at the top of its nicotine-stained lungs. The subject matter isn't new or improved; but, it does feature grand performances, led by Theron's multi-nominated successor to "Monster" (2003). It's all too heavy-handed, and obviously award-enticing, in execution; still, "North Country" manages to be an excellent production. There is an amazing, unexpected story told almost subconsciously. It is the story of Theron's relationship with her son. At first, Theron is raising young Curtis into a monster who would have rivaled the men abusing her; the cyclic breakage is the reason to watch.

******* North Country (9/12/05) Niki Caro ~ Charlize Theron, Woody Harrelson, Frances McDormand, Thomas Curtis

Once again, reality is far more cruel than movies. When sexual harassment becomes commonplace, when they must fight against commonplace, their hardships and sadness can be imagined

This is the kind of drama that breaks your heart over and over again without a moment to recover. It's NOT an easy film to watch. But that's what makes North Country so extraordinary. Charlize Theron plays Josey Aimes, a young mother who leaves her abusive husband and returns to her hometown to start a new life and support herself and her two kids. Almost immediately, we learn that this is a woman who has been judged, criticized, and ostracized and called a "whore" ever since she became pregnant in high school. Josey takes a job at the local mine because it's the best paying job she can find, and she's determined to give her kids a comfortable life. She and her female co-workers are reminded every day how unwanted and unwelcome they are at the mine. They are physically, verbally, mentally, and sexually abused on a daily basis. After being physically attacked and threatened, Josey quits and starts to fight back by suing the company for sexual harassment.

I was finally pushed over the "tears threshold" when Josey's dad stands up at the miners' union meeting and defends his daughter for the first time in her life. After that, I was sobbing on and off for the entire duration of the film. While the entire cast is perfect, I believe the Best Supporting Actress Nomination must go to Frances McDormand who injects some much-needed comic relief into this bleak-but-brave story. Movies about rape and abuse are never easy to watch, but North Country is such an important story to hear. We as women need to be reminded that women before us suffered and fought for what we take for granted today.

The movie "North Country" was an interesting movie claiming to be "based on a true story." I am not pig headed and insensitive to women's rights or any other human's rights, but these type of movies always have the tendency to get carried away. Many times they are portrayed to take place so long ago I cannot verify whether its correct or not. I was in my teens in the nineties, and I'm sure there was some questionable activities going on in some parts of the country, but there is no way that this would have been able to fly anywhere in our country. If you like sympathetic movies that make you feel sorry for the main character, go see this, its right up your ally. However, as for me, I enjoy the art of film making and creativity, and not of that of GI JANE. The acting was great in the movie, and will probably be up for some Oscars, but it just ain't my cup of tea.

I was fortunate to see North Country last night in Boston with several of my friends. While this movie may not be the best for some survivors of sexual harassment/assault because of the graphic nature of some scenes, I found this movie to be tastefully done and respectful to the sensitive nature of this case. I have come away from this movie with an even greater drive to work towards the rights of women. Situations like these have improved, but they are still out there. The three main actresses did a phenomenal job in the movie, and I do not think the film would have been as successful if Charlize Theron, Sissy Spacek, and Frances McDormand had decided to not be involved in this project. This film was powerful, thought provoking, and also showed magnificent beauty even in the most desolate of places and heartbreaking conditions. I rarely ever purchase movies, but this is one I would not only see when it is released in October, I would purchase it as well.

Set in the late 1980s comes the story of Josey Aimes, a small-towner and single mother of two with a sordid past that she's tried for years to put behind her. Living with her parents and wanting to make things better for herself and her children, she takes a job at a thriving Minnesota iron mine where only a handful of women work under constant oppression and harassment from their lascivious male co-workers. Despite her degrading reputation, the possible consequences, and a working staff that seems unwilling to help, she files a lawsuit determined to reclaim her dignity and bridge the gender gap. Although well-crafted, acted, and based on true events, this oddly never convinces; the plotting and characters are set up far too easily, and the intended dramatic climax doesn't pack any punch. Theron is quite good, so is Jenkins as her stern, conflicted dad, surrounded by a capable cast, but the story fails to rise above the level of convention. **½

"North Country," like other recent films ("Capote" and "Proof") is the type of movie you go to see for the performances. Everyone here is acting like they are in something very important, and the story that inspired this fictionalized account is indeed important. The class action sexual harassment lawsuit brought against a Minnesota mining company was the first ever of its kind and forced every major employer in the US to adopt strict sexual harassment policies that are designed to protect everyone. While the story is indeed one of grand intrigue, the direction and screenplay are extremely manipulative (there are so many Oscar-bait scenes in the courtroom and at union meetings), and so the viewer gets the most rewards out of watching the actors and actresses give it their all.

Charlize Theron is absolutely fantastic in the lead role. You can see the anguish and heartbreak in her face and body language. She's one of the few actresses these days who throws her whole self (both physically and emotionally) into a role, and it is amazing to watch. Of the supporting cast, Frances McDormand shines the most (she does this in almost every role she does now you often forget what a really great actress she is). The nicest surprise is Woody Harrelson, who gives a powerfully low-key approach to the reluctant lawyer/friend taking on the case that services the story very well. He never seems to be grand-standing, and he adds some much needed subtlety that is largely lacking in Niki Caro's direction.

Niki Caro's North Country dazzles us with its unfaltering right-mindedness even as it's hammering us silly with ploys so shameless even Frank Capra would be embarrassed to have anything to do with them. You might call this the Schindler's List approach - taking a position that no rational, halfway-educated person would dare oppose, then slipping in under this iron-clad cover to deliver the most unblushing exercise in emotional manipulation imaginable. Who would dare contend that the poor, down-trodden heroine of North Country, Josey Aimes, isn't a courageous soul for standing up to all the icky iron-ore-miners who so vilely harass her and her female co-workers? There's always a core of indisputability to movies like North Country, but around this concrete nucleus lie so many layers of bull that it no longer matters if the central premise is unassailable. Why is it necessary to resort to shameless movie tricks in the name of a truth ninety-percent of the audience would already regard as self-evident? Is it some instinct for emotional chicanery, some need to push the story beyond the factual and into some fantasy-land of super-nobility? Or is it simply that people like Niki Caro, and Spielberg, and Capra before them, don't trust their audience's ability to absorb the facts themselves, and feel they must garland them with simple-minded absolutism, didacticism and de-glamorization as a way of guaranteeing their message gets across?

The real-life drama concerns Josey Aimes (Charlize Theron), a married mother-of-two who leaves her abusive husband for the snow-swept hinterlands of Northern Minnesota, there to take up residence with her taciturn iron-miner father (Richard Jenkins) and soft-spoken mother (Sissy Spacek). Josey resolves herself not to fall into another bad relationship in the name of simple security; she needs the kind of job that will let her support her two kids herself, and the only job available is as a menial laborer in the mines, where the physical dangers inherent in extracting iron-ore come second to the ones posed by the primitive-minded, brazenly sexist, bodily-function-obsessed men who work there. Josey and the other girls are tough-cookies who can handle a little razzing, but what happens to them goes beyond chummy jocularity; the male miners resent the women, their intrusion upon the hallowed male workspace, and take obscene pleasure in systematically intimidating them. Josey comes in for an inordinate share of abuse thanks to the presence of an old high-school flame, Bobby (Jeremy Renner), whose attitude toward her remains proprietary, and thanks to her own dodgy sexual history, which gives the miners and their wives plenty of excuse to berate her. But Josey is not the kind to just turn-tail and run; she goes to management, which demonstrates no desire to shake-up the profitable status-quo by addressing the gripes of a single ill-treated woman, and when this doesn't work she turns to a down-on-his-luck lawyer, Bill (Woody Harrelson), who agrees to bring her case to court as a class-action suit, provided she can convince more of her harassed female co-workers to take up the cause.

Movies like North Country are inherently patronizing - not just because they depict lower-class people in a hollowly ennobling, often stereotypical way, but because they're made under the assumption that the gist will not get across to average people unless the factual story is dressed-up with melodramatic plot-movements, emotionally explicit acting and direct preaching. Niki Caro and her team are not interested in simple facts - rather than present the story straight-forwardly, even-handedly, they go out of their way in jacking the outrage to a fever pitch, emphasizing the yawning gulf between the ape-like behavior of the men and the saintly durability of Josey, who derives more radiance and strength from each insult and provocation. The situation is seen almost entirely from Josey's point-of-view; the miners are a mass of hateful, vaguely grotesque humanity, a bunch of craggy-faced gargoyles in soiled coveralls, the managers and owners similarly callous, freakish monsters thinly glossed with duplicitousness. The photography emphasizes the hard, ugly faces of the miners while bringing out Josey's own angelic glow; the movie divides humanity into bad people, who look like evolution has passed them by, and good people, who are all understatedly attractive. The heroine, Josey, is played by Charlize Theron less as a suffering human being than a symbol of feminine resolve in the face of patriarchal insensitivity. Theron was so impressive in Monster because she could affect pride and toughness while keeping her emotions close to the surface; in North Country Theron's emotions crack the tough exterior, spilling forth in scene-after-scene of bawling, blubbering and snot-blowing. The emotions are pushed so forcefully by Theron and Caro that they become unseemly; we start out being ashamed of the behavior of the miners, but wind up more embarrassed for Theron, who is alternately a de-glamorized, quasi-iconic figure (she becomes almost Eisensteinian in her head-bandanna and coveralls) and a spewing tear-factory. Wouldn't we feel sympathy toward Josey even if Theron didn't turn every scene into a display of her ability to prole herself out, act the toughie or crumble into a mass of quivering, Oscar-worthy jelly? Wouldn't we applaud the triumph of the just over the greedy and heartless even if the courtroom scenes didn't degenerate into wild contrivance? The movie sells itself too hard; it's not content to rest on being right, but must stagger us with its rightness, resorting to such base trickery that it undermines its own position, becoming nearly as crude-minded, as smugly self-assured as the people it's against.

Here in Minnesota the case was pretty hight profile. Obviously, these women endured some really nasty stuff. We are brought inside the situation. It's hard to believe that a large group of people wouldn't at least be afraid of forces that had already been put in place. It's a good story and Theron holds it together. The problem is that it gets so maudlin at the end that all that good storytelling seems to slip into a vacuum. Corn was OK in the 1940's, but contemporary audiences have an awareness that makes this seem really saccharine. I'd be interested to see how much of the the last quarter of the film actually happened. Were the miners as monstrous as portrayed? I guess one would have to go back to the trial accounts. Theron's character was certainly the wrong one to mess with. It would be interesting to see how the taconite industry is doing and what sort of employees are still there working.