Film Review: "North Country" (2005)

Based on a true story, this highly-charged film stars Charlize Theron as a down-on-her luck single mom who gets a job working a mine in Minnesota, only to be treated like dirt along with her other female co-workers at the hands of the men. This leads to a successful lawsuit, much to the chagrin of the management who seem to enjoy indulging in their prehistoric ways.

A well-done, tough flick, although North Country is highly, HIGHLY overdramatized. Every single man in this film without question is either a pig, rapist, or coward, and this includes the main character's father AND son. The harassment includes guys masturbating on women's personal belongings, women being doused in fecal matter, dildoes in lunch boxes, and of course, men grabbing the women's private parts at will, all of which makes fare like graffiti and misogynistic language seem minor. There is also a rape story which, although part of the main character's history, is peripheral to the lawsuit plotline and just puts the man-bashing element way over the top in my view.

Having worked in two industrial enterprises during the time period of this film (they show Anita Hill twice), I know for certain that sexism exists, especially in blue-collar workplaces. However, watching "North Country", you'd think that there are no good guys out there. We have moms, wives, girlfriends and daughters, too, and some of us even have a pretty well-defined sense of justice to boot. This flick loses some of its value in that it paints all men as a potential predator of some kind. I was reminded of that early 90s line of thinking which suggested that we are all potential wife-beaters, which made its way into the public conciousness through Ontario government advertising (remember the ad which showed a fella throwing his woman into the path of an ongoing subway train while everyone stood around and did nothing?)

This movie will appeal to the Womyn's Centre crowd for sure, but (critical) mainstream audiences will find a fair bit to take issue with here. All that to say, a solid performance from Theron (isn't it always?), and Sissy Spacek and Frances McDormand are also very good.

Overall rating: 6.5/10