North Country (USA) (Warner Bros) (2005) ***Year: 2005iMDB
Director: Niki Caro Cast: Charlize Theron, Elle Peterson, Sean Bean, Woody Harrelson, Sissy Spacek, Frances McDormand
Charlize Theron wants to show that her Oscar-winning performance in Monster was not an accident as she portrays Josey Aimes as the woman that started the first sexual harrassment class-action lawsuit.
The main worry about a movie on this theme is that it will be overbearing and preachy. North Country's problem is that while it tries to portray characters that struggle between tradition and modern, between acceptance and revolt, between closing their eyes and taking a stand, the transitions from one posture to another seem abrupt and forced rather than smoothly caused by a change in the respective characters. Nevertheless, North Country is a movie worth watching for the strong overall performances from Theron to Spacek, McDormand or Jenkins and for showing why the notion of sexual harrassment, a term too lightly used these days, was needed in the first place and the struggle women had to go through to be heard and have their rights protected.
Posted by TheCasualCritic on November 5, 2005 06:13 PM