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Danny Wynands,
Shawn Robinson,
Lena Fennema,
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Niki Caro,
Niki Caro
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: Warner Home Video
: 126 min.
: English, French
: English, Spanish, French
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A fictionalized account of one of America's most groundbreaking sexual harassment lawsuits comes to the screen in this hard-hitting drama. In the late '80s, Josey Aimes (Charlize Theron) fled her abusive husband, and needed to find a way to support her two children. Aimes returned to her hometown in Minnesota and followed the lead of her old friend Glory (Frances McDormand), who had bucked tradition and found a job in the iron mines that had long provided employment for much of the community. Aimes found honest labor and a living wage working the mines, but she also discovered she was working with men who were uncomfortable working with women (whose right to work in the mines had been mandated by law almost 15 years prior), and didn't care to show them much respect. However, as Aimes found herself the growing target of sexist jokes and abhorrent behavior, she found that many of her female co-workers were reluctant to stand beside her, afraid of losing a good-paying job at a time when they were increasingly hard to find. But as a personal crisis became a public war of words, Aimes became the center of a nationwide controversy when she attempted to file a class action sexual harassment suit against the mine owners, which put her and her family in a position of scrutiny beyond her worst expectations. North Country also stars Sean Bean, Sissy Spacek, and Woody Harrelson. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
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| Wonderful Performances, Difficult Material
by talltale
February 26, 2006 - 7:26 AM PST
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2 out of 2 members found this review helpful
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Terrifically well-acted by every last performer, NORTH COUNTRY is old-fashioned in its sentiments, modern in its story-telling technique (past and present interestingly inter-cut) and marks an enormous improvement in direction by Niki Caro from her overrated "Whale Rider." The cast could not have been better chosen--from Theron in the lead to Richard Jenkins as her angry father (scenes between them toward the end of the film are terrifically moving), Frances McDormand (when is this woman not superb?), Sean Bean (giving a warm performance light years from his usual bad guy mode), Michelle Monaghan, Jillian Armenante, and--yes!--Woody Harrelson.
The screenplay by Michael Seitzman is well-crafted, building nicely until the finale--when, for me, it fell apart with a single false stoke, as a certain character suddenly switches sides. But, when 95% of a film has held you tight, it has to be recommended pretty highly despite a final flaw. Yes, the behavior of the miners toward the women may seem beyond belief to some; from my experience, it is, unfortunately, just everyday fun-and-games. This film didn't make much of a stir at the box-office, but I bet it'll do better on DVD. |
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GreenCine Member Rating
(Average 6.78)
32 Votes
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