North Country

Reviewed by Jeff Jacoby
November 4, 2005

Studio: Warner Brothers Website: http://northcountrymovie.warnerbros.com/ MPAA: R Review Rating: 6.5 out of 10

Josey Aimes (Charlize Theron) leaves her abusive husband and moves back home to Northern Minnesota with her two children. Eager to gain her financial independence she decides to take a job at a local mining company. Unfortunately she finds a more abusive environment than what she left behind.

North Country is loosely based on a true story about a group of women subjected to extreme sexual harassment and physical abuse at a Minnesota Mining company. The women are subjected to crude and demeaning behavior from a large majority of the male workforce. The mostly male management staff demonstrates a depraved indifference to their plight, which ultimately forces the main character, Josey Aimes, to file suit against the company on behalf of all the aggrieved women.

This movie is an attempt at a powerful and high impact drama, but fails often due to miscasting, some bad writing, and cheap Hollywood machinations.

Woody Harrelson is cast as a former high-powered New York City attorney. His performance and general appearance proved otherwise. He would have been better cast as a member of the sexual harassment squad.

The worst scenes in the movie occurred in the courtroom. Woody Harrelson's performance did not convince me he was a legal juggernaut. He proved he could be clumsy and boring. The writers attempted to make the courtroom the emotional climax of the production, but only succeeded in creating less than believable exchanges between the defense, plaintiff and judge. The writers hoped to appeal to a viewer's emotions rather than logic.

The most regrettable and offensive point of the movie was the comparison of a broad based and systematic abuse of a large group of women by a depraved group of men and their complicit corporation, that was ultimately proven in a court of law, to a he said-she said allegation of sexual harassment voiced against Clarence Thomas during his Supreme Court confirmation hearing. The allegation did not have any corroboration, no judicial finding, or even an entry in a personal journal. Woody Harrelson says to Charlize Theron, “You are Anita Hill”, in his usual unconvincing fashion.

I went to the theatre hoping to experience a substantive drama, insights into human nature, or even a basic entertaining movie, by no means did I wish to experience a Hollywood propaganda project wrapped in a shroud of factual pain and suffering. Fortunately, the suffering by the women depicted in North Country did not lend any credibility to this misguided attempt.

I have very little tolerance for propaganda films. This movie would have rated higher if it would have left out the typical Hollywood agenda. The Accused , staring Jodi Foster, is a better movie if looking for a substantive drama with a similar subject matter. (message to Warner Brothers: refund my ticket cost, please)