Best of the Decade Marathon UpdateNorth Country2nd ViewingI'm sure everyone's Top 100 would have a couple of films that are unique to their list. This is one of mine. (I blame lack of exposure.) Regarded as an Oscar-bait project that teaches you that sexual harassment is bad, reviews for North Country were surprisingly mixed and box office was poor. Few people wanted to take this medicine, so people missed out on one of the decade’s most absorbing dramas.
There’s an emotionally complicated scene about 30min into the film. It’s after work and everyone has gathered at the local bar for some fun and company. We feel the basic desire for uncomplicated human comfort. Unfortunately, the very men who hurl sexist insults at work – or at least stand by while others do – are all there is to choose from. So we see Michelle Monaghan and Charlize Theron try and make the most harmless choices. Charlize even asks a man she dances with, “Are you nice?” There are some nice guys in the joint (namely Woody Harrelson), but they’re too nice. Too easily intimidated - in their own way - by the other men. There’s a lot going on in this sequence and director Niki Caro (
Whale Rider) puts you right into the very human skin of the people who live and work here.
Coming after Monster, this film should have cemented Charlize Theron, as one of the top actresses working. Like in Erin Brockovich and Norma Rae, we have the mixture of personal and professional, working class taking on the system. The part of Josie Aimes is both a great character to play and a dynamic vehicle for its star. Let down first by her father and recently by her husband, Josie has become an emotional punching bag, as the abuse is piled onto her and her female coworkers. But with each blow we watch as Josie toughens herself further until she becomes a true force to be dealt with. She becomes a woman who simply won't let herself be hurt anymore.
I want to pause this review for a dialogue scene that I think exhibits the intelligence of the screenplay, how well it knows the characters inside-out. Here’s the scene when Josie wants to hire Harrelson’s lawyer character, Bill White.
JOSIE: I need a lawyer. I wanna sue the mine. The company. All of them.
BILL: Well, good luck with that.
JOSIE: I'm saying I wanna hire you.
BILL: Sorry, don't do that anymore.
JOSIE: That sucks, because you're the only lawyer I ever met.
BILL: Well, the good news is, all roads lead to lawyers. Tell you what. I will buy you a beer, though.
JOSIE: I don't need a beer. I need a lawyer.
BILL: Look, Josey, the illusion is that all your problems are solved in a courtroom. The reality is that even when you win, you don't win.
JOSIE: I know, but I'm right.
BILL: I'm sure you are, but right has nothing to do with the real world. Look at Anita Hill. Because she's you. You think you're outgunned at the mine, wait till you get to a courtroom. It's called the "nuts and sluts defense." You're either nuts and you imagined it, or a slut and you asked for it. Either way, it's not pleasant. Take my advice. Find another job. Start over.
JOSIE: I don't have any start-over left.
BILL: Look, you're a beautiful girl...
JOSIE: Yeah, I'm a beautiful girl. I could find a guy to take care of me. I'm done looking to be taken care of. I wanna take care of myself. Take care of my kids. You know it's happening to all of us. Every woman up there. But you don't give a shit, do you?
Hesitantly, Josie finds the quiet courage to say “enough” and uses the system to fight back. The key word here is ‘hesitantly’, for Josie is not a strong-willed crusader like Norma or Erin. Josie is actually very weak, and it takes a long time for her to find her courage. Josie is flawed, which makes it hard for others to take her seriously. And Theron doesn’t have that big moment where she finds her inner strength. It’s practically pulled out of her by the bad events that pile up. Even if the part is Oscar bait, Charlize owned it from her first close up, and never hit a wrong note all the way to the end. Reese Witherspoon won that year for Walk the Line. If any of you have seen both films speak up and tell me if you agree. I doubt it.
I love all the performances, but while everyone else grabs their big moments, Frances McDormand scores simply by feeling like she’s lived in that town with those people all of her life. She slyly steals the movie, acting as the hand of righteous anger until Josie finds her own inner fire
Usually with these films, you can always rely on the parents for support. Well Hank Aimes hates his daughter, Josie. Richard Jenkins surprises at every turn with how much Hank blames his daughter for her entire life. This is better than his acclaimed performance in
The Visitor. There’s a startling moment in the beginning where Josie comes home in trouble and Hank punches the fridge in frustration at her while she sits crying.
During the fridge scene, Niki Caro just holds on the actors and watches as they slowly break apart right before our eyes. She holds this film together, emerging as a dramatic director of the 1st Rank. Her recreation of a Minnesota mining town is flawless.
There are some uncomfortable scenes. You can’t avoid that. Most are courtesy of Jeremy Renner (perhaps you’ve heard of him.) But there are also a lot of really detailed characters and the dramatic push and pull between them is tensely exciting. Caro does an excellent job of focusing the drama on the characters, making not just an issue picture, but a film about people forced into a crisis situation.