Compelling drama

Presenting a fictional account of the nonfiction book Class Action: The Story of Lois Jensen and the Landmark Case that Changed Sexual Harassment Law, North Country, begins with with Josey Aimes (Charlize Theron) on the stand, being grilled about her sex life. The book deals with an account of a long legal battle of a group of women miners who endured a hostile work environment and numerous and continuous insults and unwanted touching when they became the first women to go work at the Eveleth Mines in Minnesota.

Through four-fifths of North Country, the audience receives a rare treat. Here's a film that deals with a serious issue – sexual harassment, in a serious way. It is a compelling drama that is well shot, directed and acted. It is nothing short of tragic then, that the last fifth of the film is some of the worst put to screen this year. Screenwriter Michael Seitzman is no stranger to vastly overblown, yet flat, melodrama. One can see his Here on Earth for a sample of how ridiculous his conception of human interaction is. Yet how is it that most of the film is not only watchable, but truly exceptional, when the ending was so terrible? The answer probably has more than a little to do with director Niki Caro.

The movie shifts back and forth between the courtroom drama and the experience of Josey Aimes, a battered wife who leaves her husband with her two children, to go back to living a life with her parents. Unable to cope with her father's distaste in her actions, Aimes (played so well by Theron), tries out washing hair at the local salon before being hired at the mine, the main employer for the people of the area.

Aimes is an attractive woman, and learns that she and her other female co-workers must develop a very tough skin and learn to take it like a man if they want to survive, let alone succeed. The harassment was pervasive. It wasn't just catcalls and sexist utterances.

It was in many cases more or less sexual assault. When Aimes felt able to complain about it, she could do so in the human resources office, with a pinup calendar staring back at her. It was the type of openly hostile workplace that really makes you wonder, as Josey's dad (Richard Jenkins) does, how is it that so many men can behave so badly? They wouldn't act towards women the same way at a company picnic, so why do they do it at work?

Josey's struggle is not made easier by most of her female co-workers. They need the high-paying mine jobs as much as she does and the repercussions for speaking out have been well-illustrated. Unemployment and hungry families are not welcome ideas when there is no reason to believe your complaints will be acted upon. Or at least, acted upon positively. Josey is subjected to degrading and brutal reprisals as are some of the other women, despite having not complained themselves. Particularly disgusting, though it's hard to pick out the worst from so many choices, is an instance where Sherry (Michelle Monaghan) takes a look inside her locker where she does not find her clean clothes.

Josey finally gets to court only to have her sex life put on trial. That this is done is no surprise. In the actual case Jensen vs. Eveleth Taconite, the women were subjected to detailed examinations of their personal lives after a judge granted the company's lawyers access to their medical records. Though her lawyer Bill White (Woody Harrelson) does an adequate job in rebutting arguments, the arguments are ones that need not be addressed. All the court scenes deal with only this.

The struggles of Aimes are based largely on the events of Lois Jensen's job-like struggle. Where the film fails though, is by trying to rearrange them neatly and add "Oscar moments." Many of the actions, even the ones that seem over the top, actually did happen. But they didn't happen like they do in North Country. That's not to say that it isn't worth seeing or that is doesn't have brilliant moments, such as Sissy Spacek's one woman wife-strike – it's just that a halfway decent ending would have made this one of the best films of 2005.

Words of Wisdom – What are you supposed to do when the ones with all the power are hurting those with none? Well for starters, you stand up. Stand up and tell the truth. You stand up for your friends. You stand up even when you're all alone. You stand up.

Watch it if you liked – Erin Brokovich
Movie Hall of Fame – No
Tagline – All she wanted to do was to make a living, instead she made history!