Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

North Country certainly made me feel. It made me feel sad and angry, watching abuse in a workplace that went far beyond a little teasing fun. But it also made me feel happy. Happy to live in a place and time where the events that took place in this movie couldn't possibly happen to me. Because now there are laws to protect me. Laws that seem so logical and practical, that it boggles the mind to realize there was ever a time when sexual abuse in the workplace wasn't illegal. Sadly, this movie also made me feel disappointment - that a movie dealing with such an important topic lowered itself in the final act for the sake of a Hollywood-style ending.

Charlize Theron plays Josie, a woman who leaves her abusive husband, and moves back home with her two kids. Life's tough for Josie - the townsfolk consider her a pariah - after all she had a baby at sixteen, she must be a little slut, right? Even her own father has been cold and distant to her since she brought such shame to her family. To add to her problems, the menial jobs she can pick up pay such low wages it's hard to support her children. But then she bumps into her old friend Glory, played by Frances McDormand. Glory works in the town's mine, in fact she was the very first female employee there. It's hard work, but the mine pays a decent wage and Josie needs the money.

Thus she joins the handful of other females doing "a man's job". At least that's the way it's viewed by the males in the town. The women are seen as stepping in, where they really don't belong and taking a job that should go to a man.

If all Josie had to deal with were a few men telling her she doesn't belong, that wouldn't have been so bad. But the men do more than verbally assault her - they intimidate her physically as well. Basically, they act like real jerks - with insulting graffiti, inappropriate touching, "practical jokes" meant to belittle, and even actual physical attacks.

Complaints to the bosses do nothing. They basically tell Josie that she clearly "asks for it" and she should just "deal with it". Or leave. That would be the perfect solution, as far as they're concerned.

Trying to get the other female workers to rally with her is equally ineffective. They don't want to "stir up trouble". They need the money and they know that speaking up isn't going to change anything, anyway. They'll simply put up with a bit of abuse, for the sake of their paychecks.

Finally, Josie takes her case to court. There, with no surprise at all, her personal life is as much on trial as the mine. After all, she had a child at sixteen, doesn't that mean she's "easy" and deserves a little harassment? And the judge says it takes three to make a class action suit. Josie and her lawyer (played by Woody Harrelson) try to get the other women to join her, but of course that's easier said than done.

But just when it all seems hopeless, the aforementioned Hollywood Ending comes through.

This movie is a fictionalized story based on the non-fiction book Class Action: The Story of Lois Jensen and the Landmark Case That Changed Sexual Harassment Law. In other words, they took a real case, changed the names, and added Hollywood spin to make it into an exciting movie.

It's very hard to judge a movie that's based on actual events. Do you criticize part of the story you don't like, if it really happened? Do you criticize scenes that are completely different from the real-life events, but make the movie more exciting? And what about a character's personality? If it's annoying, but factual, is it OK to criticize?

For instance, Josie's son is an annoying teenaged brat. He turns on his mother in a way that makes you just want to smack some sense into him. I have no idea if this is based on the real-life son of the real-life plaintiff or if this is just the way the writers and director wanted to portray him. But he sure was annoying.

Same with Josie's father. It's hard to imagine a man being that nasty to his own child. True or fiction? I have no idea.

But what I do know, from doing some research, is that the one-sided story we see in the movie is really an unfair portrayal. It was not the case that EVERY man in that mine was awful to the women. Yet, this movie shows exactly two males that were nice to Josie, everyone else was horrible.

And, even without doing any research, I can tell you that the big 11th-hour Hollywood-style courtroom antics didn't happen the way they're portrayed, either. In fact, the real case took over 10 years to settle.

Overall, this is an enjoyable movie with wonderful performances by all of the main leads. It discusses an extremely important issue, and the landmark case that we can now thank for our sexual harassment policies that protect us in the workplace.

However, there are some graphic scenes that will disturb some viewers. And, we have to take this movie with a grain of Hollywood-produced salt.



Recommended: Yes

Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age