North Country (2005)
Average Rating: 6.7/10
Reviews Counted: 167
Fresh: 114 | Rotten: 53
Though sometimes melodramatic and formulaic, North Country is nonetheless a rousing, powerful story of courage and humanity.
Average Rating: 6.9/10
Critic Reviews: 41
Fresh: 29 | Rotten: 12
Though sometimes melodramatic and formulaic, North Country is nonetheless a rousing, powerful story of courage and humanity.
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Average Rating: 3.5/5
User Ratings: 92,335
My Rating
Movie Info
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.
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Cast
-
Charlize Theron
Josey Aimes -
Frances McDormand
Glory Dodge -
Sean Bean
Kyle Dodge -
Richard Jenkins
Hank Aimes -
Jeremy Renner
Bobby Sharp -
Michelle Monaghan
Sherry -
Woody Harrelson
Bill White -
Sissy Spacek
Alice Aimes -
Rusty Schwimmer
Big Betty -
-
Thomas Curtis
Sammy Aimes -
Elizabeth Peterson
Karen Aimes -
Linda Emond
Leslie Conlin -
Amber Heard
Young Josie -
Cole Williams
Young Bobby -
Xander Berkeley
Arlen Pavich -
Raye Birk
Tom Motel Clerk -
Tom Bower
Gray Suchett -
James Cada
Don Pearson -
Marc Miles
Digger Driver -
Boots Southerland
Guy #2 -
Chris Mulkey
Earl Slangley -
John Aylward
Judge Halsted -
J.C. Cutler
Union Rep #1 -
Bruce Bohne
Union Member #4 -
Mark Chait
Wayne -
Gus Lynch
Pete Union Rep -
Todd Robert Anderson
Semen Man -
Sally Wingert
Kay Stollman -
Mark Sivertsen
Bailiff #1 -
Arron Shiver
Young Male Doctor -
Curtis Plagge
Burly Miner -
Kit Gwin
Larynx Nurse -
Brad William Henke
Lattavansky -
Corey Stoll
Ricky Sennett -
Bryan Fagerstrom
Mac -
Clif Stokes
Good Guy -
J.D. Garfield
Porta Guy #1 -
John Hardman
Guy #3 -
Forrest Norgaard
Mac's Buddy -
Sage Coy
Stacey -
Dennis E. Garber
Real Estate Agent -
Alex Layton
Number 3 -
Jacqueline Wright
Bobby's Wife -
Catherine Campion
Stacey's Mom -
David Lislegard
Union Member #1 -
Kurt Peterson
Union Member #2 -
Pete Pellinen
Union Member #3 -
Monsignor Patrick McDowel...
Priest -
Katherine Ferrand
Sally Bullavina -
Rand Kennedy
Bailiff #2
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North Country Trailer & Photos
All Critics (178) | Top Critics (42) | Fresh (118) | Rotten (55) | DVD (24)
You cannot help being stirred by the reach and depth, the constant rebuffs to sloppiness, of a strong ensemble.
Top CriticThough the dirt and grime in North Country are artfully applied, it's purely cosmetic and skin-deep.
North Country does a good job in ratcheting up the tension and unfairness until the audience is brought to the breaking point.
If there was ever any thought that perhaps Whale Rider was a fluke, North Country should erase all doubt.
North Country delivers an emotional wallop and a couple of performances worthy of recognition come award time.
She's [Caro] got a good story to tell (based, loosely, on a real-life case), and a marvelous cast to help her tell it.
issue movie that blatantly examines power and sexual harassment in the workplace
North Country is the unfortunately overly-dramatized Hollywood version of a story that has a chance at being truly important and even uplifting, but thanks to extreme heavy-handedness, ends up being mostly shrill instead.
So "inspirational" it should mate with Cinderella Man and give birth to a litter of baby Oscars
The road to cinematic hell is paved with this sort of banal effort borne of bland good expectations.
Excellent and stirring, but for mature audiences only.
Would have you believe it's no more complex than a playground quarrel between boys, girls, and cooties.
While the performances are flawless, Michael Seitzman's screenplay is embarrassingly sophomoric, so much so that the film's denouement completely obliterates its feminist message.
Works as both deep focus on a critical historical moment, and a more intimate and sorrowful tale about growing up female in America.
Though tough and heavy-handed at times, North Country is engaging -- not one of those films about an important subject matter that you feel you should watch.
...there's little doubt that the movie would not come off even remotely as well as it ultimately does were it not for the effectiveness of the cast.
Os realizadores de Terra Fria se revelam bem mais repugnantes e perigosos do que os mineiros retratados em seu filme supostamente liberal.
The movie comes together in the final half hour, and then it's a heartbreaker and an inspiration, despite my minor reservations about events preceding it.
Audience Reviews for North Country
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
-
- Bill White: What's it going to be this time yellow or red? Yellow or red? YELLOW OR RED?
- Bobby Sharp: What was I supposed to do?
-
- Bill White: Rangers are hard as steel, huh? Not this one. This one is made of butter.
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- Glory Dodge: Before your law firm hired you did they put your feet up in the air and look in your insides?
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- Kyle Dodge: This is Glory. She worked at Pearsons. She wants to say 'My name is Glory Dodge, and I'm not f**king dead yet. I stand with Josey.'
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Foreign Titles
- L'Affaire Josey Aimes (FR)
Bill Maher issued a "New Rule" when this film first came out: "New rule: Charlize Theron must be hot again." This was as he showed a picture of Theron covered in grime, a still from North Country. Isn't it ironic that she would still be seen as a sex symbol in a film that discourages seeing women as sex symbols? Such jokes - and they are not just jokes - constitute the cultural problem at the center of this slow-paced but compelling drama.
The performances by Theron and Frances McDormand are fantastic, each actress able to embody both natural femininity and the masculine mask they must put on in order to function in the mine. The most compelling scene in the film is provided by Richard Jenkins, who must defend his daughter against the screaming taunts of his co-workers.
But there are issues with the film. First, it delves into a few cliches along the way, including the climactic courtroom revelation, which I won't give away; suffice it to say that you won't be surprised. Second, on two occasions, the first being the Richard Jenkins scene and the second the very existence of the Woody Harrelson character, men are required to give women a voice. It seems as though the film is so self-conscious about not demonizing men that it contradicted its point by portraying men as necessary for female political and social action.
Overall, North Country starkly presents a serious cultural problem that, though set in 1989, certainly resonates today.