Kim Gentes

Clarity about human struggle & womens issues

North Country is a conscientious picture about workplace sexual harassment. The film is loosely based on the book "Class Action" which documents the landmark 1984 legal case of Lois Jensen. Directory Niki Caro and writer Michael Seitzman graft a story out of various characters in the book and present the composite (along with some of their own story writing) in the character of Josey Aimes (played by Charlize Theron).

The struggle of a single mother, along with a case of ongoing workplace sexual harassment is clearly articulated by the movie. Theron does a good job of holding the character together, piecing the personality together from the script and acting genuine in the emotional interactions. Some of the best dialog, though, is given by other characters, especially Richard Jenkins who plays Theron's father. Along with Frances McDermond, cast as a gruff and tough woman mine worker, the supporting cast is very crisp and convincing.

The setting for this film is the mining country of Minnesota. The real nuances of life in the frozen world of the north are brought out quite well. The film stutters a little in the court room scenes, especially at the conclusion of the movie. This is partly because the fiction the movie is now being weaved with the reality of the actual case. The emotional turnabout in concluding the film seems somewhat contrived, and I doubt the details given here come from actual inspired true story.

Still, as a whole North Country is very clear about its agenda, and frankly it does a good job not exacerbating the stereo typical "men hater" film that has pervaded the likes of Lifetime television and other feminist agenda platforms. Instead, North Country, deals fairly with the people in its story. Some men are bad, others are good. But don't worry, there is plenty of bad guys to go around with this film. The sinister nature of sexual harassment and its shameful hidden supporters is brought to life. Still because the plot doesn't stretch beyond or glorify the abuse into fiction, you feel that the story is real, and it makes you evaluate its premise.

That said, North Country was not as compelling as it might have been. The characters were not developed as deeply as they might have been. The film goes just 2 hours, 6min, which seems long enough, unless you are actually trying to create a great character and tell a detailed story. Some time was taken with the courtroom scene that really could have been condensed into a much shorter segment. In the end, it feels like you got the idea, but not as much of the character grit and life as you would have liked. And as I mentioned before, the court room drama itself, movie the film back to Hollywood, with its courtroom banter and lack of true legal decorum. And Hollywood is a sad place to leave a film that could have been much more real.

This film is definitely worth seeing and powerful, but not enough to make it Oscar material, in my opinion.