North Country

Director: Niki Caro
Starring: Charlize Theron, Woody Harrelson, Frances McDormand, Sean Bean
Running time: 126 mins
Certificate: 15

Inspired by true events North Country tells the story of female mine worker Josey Aimes (Theron), the winner of the United States’ first successful case over sexual harassment at work. Moving back to her hometown in 1989 after a violent marriage, Josey takes up work at the local mine, the centre of the community’s livelihood where the male workers make her and her fellow female colleagues’ lives hell because they are taking up men’s jobs. The film chronicles Josey’s struggle to bring an action against the company and gain equal rights for her co-workers in what would be a landmark decision.

Although being represented as telling the story of the victory of the female miners, the film never actually takes us all the way there, despite its unnecessary two hour running time. Instead, it gives an overly-dramatised fictionalised account of the life of ringleader Josey and family struggles and her attempts to form a large enough party to pursue a class action against her employers. When we do finally see a courtroom properly (complete with the traditional clichés), lawyer Harrelson spends his time arguing about an event from Josey’s childhood rather than the case that we’re supposed to be learning about.

The first half is designed to make the point that the women are being hard done to, and the despicable treatment they are given at first seems truly terrible, but unfortunately so much time is spent showing the day-to-day unfairness and brutality from the men that the idea is hammered home far too violently, so that with every prank, jibe or grope the women’s plight seems more everyday than angering.

In the final act, the progressively less disturbing harassment of the women is abandoned in favour of an equally bad direction, as things begin to go right with a melodramatic and often ridiculously sentimental flurry of what are intended to be unexpected revelations which can often be seen a mile off, whilst those that are truly unpredictable are only unpredictable because they’re unrealistic. Watch out in particular for the entire workforce (all of whom have been stereotypically rotten with the exception of the token ‘good man’) having a total change of heart after a brief speech from Josey’s father (Richard Jenkins), and Josey’s fellow female miners joining her cause out of the blue.

Acting-wise, everyone concerned does well enough with the line they’ve been dealt, with McDormand probably giving the best performance as Glory. They all perform solidly, though perhaps not convincingly warranting Theron and McDormand’s nominations for the Oscars, for best actress and best supporting actress respectively.

Unfortunately, despite being armed with an important message about civil rights, North Country is ridden with such cheesy dialogue and implausible changes of heart and turns of events that it ends up coming across as an (albeit pretty good and well-acted) made-for-TV movie, which at its best is moderately engaging and at its worst indulgently slushy.