5/5 good deal
  by M. K. Marino
Good condition, got here fast, and the quality was great. I would definately buy from this retailer again.

4/5 5.21.09North Country review
  by H. Cha (Panama City, FL United States)
5.21.09 I was looking for a story that displys an individual's resolve to fight for respect at the workplace. Seeing your fellow workers and corporation bosses ANSWER HONESTLY is rare. Perhaps confrontation by courts and monetary compensation is a country's reluctant way of saying, " I 'm not wrong. This court's forcing me to change my ways. We don't need no camera's tape recorders, blogs, etc. If you don't like it then , you leave.
Is this the repeat of a power as large a church saying, ~there is no problem of our fault? The Minnesota , North Country mining case lasted ? 7 years. Pride and truth, a different value than gold.

4/5 Kind of a tear-jerker
  by Bradley F. Smith (Miami Beach, FL)
While noble in intent, this portrayal of a woman's struggles in the iron mines of northern Minnesota loses something in the realism department by casting the glamorous Charlize Theron in the lead role. Anyone who looked like her simply had to load her pickup truck and move to California, Florida or elsewhere to find better jobs. Still, this message movie is pretty well done, and Frances McDormand is great, as always. The accents are realistic, and the men are, too. Watch it.

3/5 Could have been stronger
  by kristin724 (New Jersey USA)

After seeing North Country in the bargain bins at nearly every video store, I took the $4 plunge. I caught part of the 2005 film on television, and hey, Sean Bean is in it, so why not?


After leaving her abusive husband, Josey (Charlize Theron, Monster) takes a job at the Pearson Mines to support her two children, Sammy (Thomas Curtis) and Karen (Elle Peterson). Her father Hank (Richard Jenkins), also a miner, disapproves of Josey's job, as do most of the male miners. Union representative Glory (Frances McDormand, Fargo) tries to keeps the hazing of the new female minors to a minimum. Unfortunately, Glory can't keep her tough exterior while her health is failing. Her husband Kyle (Sean Bean)-previously injured at the mine-must care for Glory. Josey's Mom Alice (Sissy Spacek) offers support where she can, but after one too many incidents at the mine, Josey turns to ex hockey star turned lawyer Bill (Woody Harrelson) and takes the first class action sexual harassment lawsuit to court.

Clearly meant as a vehicle for Charlize Theron, the Oscar winner gives a fine performance here along with other such female Oscar heavy weights as Spacek and McDormand. The faults with North Country are not with the cast. In their brief scenes, Woody Harrelson and Sean Bean support the ladies very well, but it is as if they don't have enough to do. The leading women also don't seem to be as moving as they could be. The talent was definitely there for North Country, but director Niki Caro and writer Michael Seitzman seem to have missed the emotional mark.

Based upon the book by Clara Bingham, this true story about women fighting back against sexual harassment should be more moving then it turned out onscreen. After years of courtroom reruns on television, the legal scenes in North Country seem stilted and on the cheap. Woody Harrelson is capable of the courtroom charisma needed, as seen in The People vs Larry Flint, but it seems as if the history making legal precedence is set aside for chick flick moments.

The North Country DVD does have a brief deleted scene reel, and for once, these pieces should have been left in the film. Several key conversations between each main cast member were left on the cutting room floor. Some have dialogue, and some are just lengthy moments between the leads, but these scenes add some of the depth needed. At exactly two hours, North Country seems a bit short nowadays. All the pieces to the puzzle are there, but North Country doesn't quite deliver.

Men probably won't like this attempted gun-ho women's picture, but younger folks may not either, largely due to the eighties look of the film. North Country's setting is cold Minnesota, 1989-and the hair, costumes, and production look it. I must, however, say the ice hockey presented actually looks authentic-not an easy thing to find! Unfortunately, the DVD contains only the deleted scenes, the standard subtitles, and a brief behind the scenes with the real women of the class action lawsuit.


Instead of directing audiences to `stand up' for themselves and other against abuse by going to a website, here was another missed chance to get seriously exhaustive about the issue of filming what is still a touchy subject. How did Theron prepare? Was it rewarding or difficult for the real victims to see their tale onscreen? What does the real mining company have to say about all this? Sadly we just don't know.

Although North Country didn't quite hit the nail on the head, the film is just right for a certain audience niche. Women and victims of abuse will find the film worthy, and students learning about such lawsuits might help themselves with a viewing. No one here has a glamorous role, but fans of the cast will no doubt tune in as well. North Country brought to light a very important subject, but the next step was there for the taking.


5/5 North Country Review
  by Valerie Garner
This was a movie that completely took me off guard in so many ways. Based on a true story, it made it even more compelling.

The story of a young wife who was beaten, so took her 2 children and fled to start over at her parent's home. She had kept a secret for years that had cost her reputation in the town and with her own family.

She took a job for a mining company when women working in the field was very rare. She and the other women suffered horrendous working conditions, as they all fight hard to simply provide a better life for their families.

As the abuse at work becomes unbearable, she hires a burnt out lawyer to bring a class action suit against the company, something that had never been done before. Nearly the entire town turns against her.

When her father finally stands up for his daughter in the face of this onslaught of slander, lies & viciousness, I was crying. This situation turned to victory at the darkest hour. This is an amazing woman that I feel is a current unsung hero.