North Country Movie Review:

North Country deals with difficult issues, and at times it is difficult to watch. This is not a new concept for film, in fact many great films deal with uncomfortable topics, but what makes it a great film is when the topic is approached tastefully. North Country is so determined to force its point down the viewer’s throat that it ends up overusing sexual harassment to the point of exploitation. While it is a valid attempt at showing the difficulties in being a woman in a man’s world, there are so many repetitious scenes of harassment that the film ends up imploding on itself. Sometimes less is more, and with a topic which is already touchy that is usually a safe direction to go in. Some films have dared to cross the line and they work quite well, but North Country never makes it that far. From the very first scene I knew what I was expected to feel, and I also knew that there would be no room for me to feel anything else as far as the filmmakers were concerned.

Although the catch for this film is that it is based on the first class-action sexual-harassment lawsuit in the United States, the focus remains constantly on Josey Aimes, the woman who first spoke out in the Minnesota iron mines. We are forced to watch as Josey is harassed by her high school teacher, becomes pregnant, is abused by a husband, and seeking escape moves home to work in the mines that her father works in. From the very beginning she is victim of harassment as are all of the other women working the mines. After she is attacked and all of the decent people at the mine turn their back on her, she takes the situation into her own hands. She stands alone with only an ambitious lawyer to stand by her side, but her courage slowly spreads as the film heads towards predictable ground.

As the back cover of the DVD says, Josey is “threatened, insulted, ogled, fondled, belittled, attacked, and called filthy names.” All of this is happens scene after scene until watching the film becomes nearly unbearable. Only when the audience has been pushed far past the limit of what is necessary does the film ease up and allow for things to go right for Josey. Technically I have to admit that the film has a great many assets, the final product is so obvious and one dimensional that it doesn’t matter how good the acting is, or how well written dialogue may be. The difference between this film and others with similar themes is that this film never lightens up enough to make the viewing even slightly enjoyable. Films can have a message, and are often better when they do, but the key thing that can’t be forgotten if it is meant to be taken as entertainment, is the film must be entertaining.

The DVD is kept simple, which is fitting. It would not have worked well to have a blooper reel under the special features. There is a making of documentary which is mostly a collection of stories, but it is done simply and tastefully to fit the somber mood of the film. There are also additional scenes and a theatrical trailer. I can’t say that I would recommend the film, but the DVD is certainly fitting for the film.

Ryan Izay

 

The best way to describe “North Country” is to say it's exactly what you expect. Inspired by a true story about women miners suing their company for sexual harassment, this movie emerges as a sober drama, well-acted and manipulative in all the right places. It has the feel of an "important" film, so much so that it might dole out guilt to those who may profess not to enjoy it. In other words, it's a good-for-you movie.

After all, one would find it difficult to argue against such aspirations. Some things in our societal history are so abhorrent that they almost demand to be addressed at regular intervals throughout the decades, always giving current reminders of where we've been, how far we've come, and how far we still need to go. Even if “North Country” doesn't accomplish anything else, it justifies the value of keeping the wrongfulness of sexual inequality in the active conscience.

In the early part of the movie, director Niki Caro seems to overplay this hand. The avenues of sexual harassment on display here are putrid, varied, and insipid. One can hardly imagine such an environment even being tolerated by working women, yet that seems to be what was happening here. The assault feels overdone -- you get the feeling that you can't really believe it -- but then there's that nagging feeling that much of this may not be exaggeration at all.

It's what makes the thesis in “North Country” so effective, this all-out presentation of sexual harassment horror. What it ends up doing is leading the viewer through the latter scenes which strive more for an emotional effect rather than a logical one. This is where the movie falters, when it starts heading to a TV-movie victim-driven story area. The beats are too familiar. Tried-and-true obstacles are set up; characters that had been wrong-thinking start coming around. It starts feeling less like a compelling good-for-you movie than it does a good-for-you movie that's going through the motions

“North Country” has admirable ambition, but little else really makes it stand out. The acting? It's uniformly good, and star Charlize Theron does a commendable job, but, again, we expect this. It's the subject matter that makes this film -- from the complacency of a society in accepting its sexual roles to the sad idea that the best way to attack a woman's credibility is through her sexual history. Addressing these issues rightfully foments anger, and the movie does its job there, even if the rest feels like familiar medicine.

Jeffrey Chen

Have you ever heard of the concept a wolf in sheep’s clothing? Well, “North Country” is a little like that except it’s an average film in Oscar clothing.

“North Country” stars Charlize Theron as Josey Aimes, a struggling working class mother who feels that the only way to make a better life for her family is to take a grueling job at the local coal mine. Her parents (Sissy Spacek and Richard Jenkins) are adamant about Josey taking the job citing that the mine is no place for women.

Josey’s time at the mine is filled with constant physical and verbal abuse from her co-workers. A small group of women who work at the mine take the abuse in fear of losing their jobs. An advocate for the women (Frances McDormand) struggles for acceptance and to open a window to invoke change within the union and company.

All Josey wants is a better life for her kids and she begins to fight back against the company except it backfires and she becomes enemy #1 with the community. Josey has no choice but to hire local hero and lawyer Bill White (Woody Harrelson) to help her mount a case against the mining company.

The film rests on the shoulders of a dynamic performance from Charlize Theron who once again proves she is one of the best actresses out there right now. Her raw emotion and ability to envelope herself in the role is always amazing to watch and she seems to do it here with such ease and confidence.

The thing is that Theron is probably the only really great thing about this film. The story is interesting, heart-breaking and very hard to watch at times but its power is all in Theron’s performance. I often found myself comparing some of the scenes to the film “The Accused” where the film isn’t a great film but it’s incredible to watch just for the performance from Jodie Foster.

Even past Oscar winners Sissy Spacek and Frances McDormand seem to be mere shadows to Theron. McDormand would have to be the second stand-out but the tragedy of her role is never fleshed out as much as it could have been.

The film’s sexist scenes of sexual harassment reminded me a lot of films about racism because that’s exactly what these ignorant and insecure men were doing to these women.

Racism, like sexism, is a social disease. It isn’t in our genetics and there is no reason for it. Mainly it can spring from social pressures, insecurity or harsh upbringing. The world in which Josey lives has been lead to believe that everything that goes on up at the mine is all right and because of social pressures nothing ever gets fixed. It is sad to see that we do these kinds of things to each other.

The film’s final hour seems way too convenient and very Hollywood to support such a strong storyline. The passion of the story and the woman’s struggle seems rudimentary with an ending like that.

I admire how this woman stood up against her society but I just wish it would have been a better, stronger film to showcase this incredible struggle.



So Says the Soothsayer

Dean Kish

Elegantly filmed and intelligently written, this important story is told in a no-frills way that makes the most of its terrific cast and the historical events, but never lets it really blossom as a movie.

After she finally gets fed up with her violent husband, Josey (Theron) packs up her young son (Curtis) and heads home to northern Minnesota, where her parents (Jenkins and Spacek) still struggle to cope with her black-sheep reputation. Josey goes to work with friends (McDormand and Monaghan) at the local iron mine, and soon finds it impossible to cope with an atmosphere in which the men routinely humiliate women for invading "their" world. After meeting a lawyer (Harrelson), Josey decides to take them on.

Based on the true story of the first sexual harassment class-action lawsuit, this is a pivotal moment in history. What's most shocking is that this kind of thing was still going on in 1989 (and probably continues in more places than we'd care to admit). That men thought they could get away with treating anyone this way, let alone their own wives and daughters, is astonishing. And as Josey courageously stands up to the system, the film beautifully highlights a simple struggle for justice that has universal ramifications.

Theron is, of course, superb--steely and yet vulnerable, with especially powerful scenes between her and Curtis. Both Jenkins and Spacek add human resonance with their flawed but truthful reactions to their daughter. And McDormand shines in a role that seems almost crafted to get an Oscar nomination, with the excellent Bean in an understated but rock-solid role as her husband.

Director Caro (Whale Rider) beautifully captures the chilly setting, keeping the pace slow and steady, which at times feels rather too straightforward, plodding and aloof. But the clever script casually comments on the machismo that subtly infects all of society, from background glimpses of the Anita Hill hearings to dialog and situations that refuse to state the obvious. It feels slightly incomplete, concentrating on the legal precedent without delving into the fallout. But this is a vital story that's told with integrity and skill.

Rich Cline

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