Charlize Theron is soul of ‘North Country’

The passion that New Zealand director Niki Caro brought to “Whale Rider” a couple of years ago is visible again in her first American film, “North Country,” though it’s nearly derailed by courtroom histrionics in the final act.

Charlize Theron, following up her Oscar-winning work in “Monster” with another Oscar-bait performance, plays Josey Aimes, a single Minnesota mother who escapes an abusive relationship by moving back in with her conservative parents (Sissy Spacek, Richard Jenkins).

Her father is hostile, her mother submissive, and the atmosphere is clearly not healthy for Josey’s kids, Karen (Elle Peterson) and the increasingly alienated Sammy (Thomas Curtis). She fails to make ends meet at a beauty salon, where she hooks up with an old friend, Glory (Frances McDormand), who suggests she apply for a job at the local mine.

Quick facts Starring:  Charlize Theron, Frances McDormand, Sissy Spacek, Woody Harrelson, Sean Bean Directors: Niki Caro Run time: 1 hour, 45 minutes MPAA rating: R

But the mine has only recently accepted women, and most of the male employees are deeply resentful. Domestic abuse turns out to be mild compared to the sadistic sexism she faces daily on the job, where she’s taunted and threatened with rape. She also runs into a menacing ex-friend, Bobby (unfortunately typecast Jeremy Renner, who played Jeffrey Dahmer in “Dahmer”), who means to destroy what’s left of her reputation.

Josey also meets a lawyer, Bill White (Woody Harrelson), who at first thinks she has no chance of winning if she sues the company for allowing such undisguised harassment. Certainly the televised testimony of Anita Hill, who is seen several times in the background, appears to be less than encouraging.

But then he decides that a class-action suit, involving Glory and other disgruntled women employees, might be the key to challenging the male power base that rules the mining company and its union. It’s only a matter of convincing three women to testify in court.

Michael Seitzman‘s script is loosely based on Clara Bingham’s book, “Class Action: The Story of Lois Jensen and the Landmark Case That Changed Sexual Harassment Law,” and it sets up the confrontation skillfully — up to a point.

Trouble is, the cowards are so obvious and the bad guys so horrendous (Chris Mulkey, Xander Berkeley and James Cada can’t stop oozing evil), that it’s difficult to accept that any of them might change. As a result, the closing courtroom scenes suggest a lesser “Perry Mason” episode, complete with a melodramatic last-minute confession.

Are the filmmakers guilty of overdoing it? Was the company really as myopic and cruel as “North Country” suggests? Perhaps only those who experienced this showdown can answer those questions. Still, the film itself might have been more effective if it had provided a few more shades of gray.

But it does have conviction, reflected not only in the script and direction but in the solid performances of McDormand, Spacek, Harrelson and especially Theron. When Theron won her Oscar, she was criticized for spoiling her beauty to get Academy voters to take her seriously as an actress, but there's no "disguise" this time. She’s the driving force behind this film, and the chief reason to see it.

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