North Country Movie

North Country
Rating:
Run Time: 126 min
MPAA Rating: R
Released: 2005
Directors: Niki Caro
Genre/Type: Drama
Docudrama
Courtroom Drama
Social Problem Film
Producers: Nick Wechsler
Plot Synopsis by Mark Deming
A fictionalized account of one of America's most groundbreaking sexual harassment lawsuits comes to the screen in this hard-hitting drama. In the late '80s, Josey Aimes (Charlize Theron) fled her abusive husband, and needed to find a way to support her two children. Aimes returned to her hometown in Minnesota and followed the lead of her old friend Glory (Frances McDormand), who had bucked tradition and found a job in the iron mines that had long provided employment for much of the community. Aimes found honest labor and a living wage working the mines, but she also discovered she was working with men who were uncomfortable working with women (whose right to work in the mines had been mandated by law almost 15 years prior), and didn't care to show them much respect. However, as Aimes found herself the growing target of sexist jokes and abhorrent behavior, she found that many of her female co-workers were reluctant to stand beside her, afraid of losing a good-paying job at a time when they were increasingly hard to find. But as a personal crisis became a public war of words, Aimes became the center of a nationwide controversy when she attempted to file a class action sexual harassment suit against the mine owners, which put her and her family in a position of scrutiny beyond her worst expectations. North Country also stars Sean Bean, Sissy Spacek, and Woody Harrelson.

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Back to the top Top Questions about North Country

Norway, Sweden and Finland are all North of the Baltic Sea. ChaCha!
Theres USA, canada, mexico, Honduras, belize and Cuba. And there are a few others.
The United States of America, Mexico and Canada are considered North America.
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Cast

Actors Character Born
Charlize Theron Josey Aimes Aug 7, 1975 in Benoni, South Africa
Frances McDormand Glory Dodge Jun 23, 1957 in Illinois
Sean Bean Kyle Dodge Apr 17, 1959 in Sheffield, Yorkshire, England, UK
Richard Jenkins Hank Aimes
Jeremy Renner Bobby Sharp
Michelle Monaghan Sherry Mar 23, 1976
Woody Harrelson Bill White Jul 23, 1961 in Midland, TX
Sissy Spacek Alice Aimes Dec 25, 1949 in Quitman, TX
Rusty Schwimmer Big Betty
Jillian Armenante Peg Jul 5, 1968 in Paterson, NJ
Thomas Curtis Sammy Aimes
Elizabeth Peterson Karen Aimes
Linda Emond Leslie Conlin
Amber Heard Young Josie
Cole Williams Young Bobby
Arron Shiver Young Male Doctor
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Back to the topReview

Review by Derek Armstrong
With North Country, director Niki Caro demonstrates astonishing range, effortlessly swapping Maoris coming of age in New Zealand (Whale Rider) for Minnesotans navigating the wintry terrain of sexual harassment. But there's a common theme to her work: girls/women carving out an equal role for themselves in a masculine world. North Country may not have the heart of a Whale Rider, nor of its thematic progenitor, Norma Rae, but it makes up for that in earnestness of purpose. Charlize Theron earned her second Best Actress nomination by inhabiting the same landscape that won her the statue for Monster -- a gritty, lived-in mélange of imperfections, from which her character is by no means exempt. Chris Menges' stunning camerawork brings alive the bleak beauty of the setting, which mirrors the characters' frigid attitudes on political correctness. One gets a slight sense that the depictions of Josey Aimes' misogynistic co-workers are exaggerated, but that could be because it seems hard to believe such malevolently dumb behavior ever prevailed in the workplace. Frances McDormand, also nominated in the supporting category, is equally superlative as Josey's sometimes-reluctant friend and champion. Regardless of its allegiance to the true events, the subplot involving the questionable parentage of Josey's oldest son tends to distract from the narrative. While the skeletons in Josey's closet undoubtedly make her a more complex character, not simply a martyr, they add sensationalism to a scenario already rich enough with it, just from the pornographic hostility aimed at Josey. A few minor misdirections aside, North Country is an unblinking portrait of a regular woman simply pursuing a regular level of respect.

North Country on TV

Zip Code: 10010 · Provider: Verizon Fios Queens-Digital (Fresh Meadows) Edit
Apr 1 , 12:00 PM ET · North Country  · Channel 141 · LMN · Duration: 120 min.
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