Review of North Country (2005) by Chads. — 27 Dec 2005
Wouldn't Prince have been a more relevant artist to feature on the soundtrack? His music, great as it was pre-"Graffiti Bridge", did objectify women. Perhaps Bob Dylan was used to suggest that sexual harrasment issues should've been taken care of in the late-sixties, not the late-eighties.
When we're in the mines, without any signifiers of time, and you hear those derrogatory names hurled against the female miners, you have to remind yourself that this period piece is set in the recent past.
There's a reason why "Darlin'" Niki Caro uses "Alice" in the background when Josie(Charlize Theron) goes to one of the worker's homes. No, it's not the seventies either.
"North Country" is a very graceful induction into mainstream filmmaking for Caro because its themes are intrinsically linked to her "art-house" smash "Whale Rider". At times, we may want to shout, "Stiff upper lip! Stiff upper lip, Charlize," especially on that porch with her son, but Theron is convincing as a coal miner sans makeup and fat suit.
She looks at home in that pickup truck when she drives into the big city. It's a throwaway moment, but it's a better indicator of Theron's talent than all those Oscar-panderin' tears.
The reprimand she gets from the big honcho is an audience silencer.
This review of North Country (2005) was written by Chads. on 27 Dec 2005.
North Country has generally received positive reviews.
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