| This is an inspiring story about a single mother who rallies coworkers to rise above the unfair treatment they face at a local mining company. The director tries to inspire the actors as well as the extras that it not only happened here by everywhere in the world. The director felt she did not want to embarrass them or their town and that it was not all the male miners that perpetrated the harassment.
The movie is based on Lois Jenson working for the Eveleth Mines in Minnesota in the 1970s and 80s. It is a fictionalized account of her and other women working the mines. The women needed this work because it paid well and they were willing to do the dirty, hard work.
The film is emotionally charged, predictable but satisfying.
Josey (Theron) is met with resistance from parents, children, co-workers and her best fiend Glory (McDormand). The community doesn't want to hear the truth. Glory has always just gone along with it. Josey's father Hank (Jenkins) a lifelong miner is pushed to his limits trying to keep peace with his fellow miners. Josey's children have to cope with their peers and their mother's past. Through these struggles she will find courage to stand up for what she believes in even if it means standing alone. Her old beau, Bobby (Renner) is her boss now and there is still some unresolved feeling in their past.
Josey goes up the line of authority to protest and things get worse. Finally she finds an ally Bill White (Harrelson) a town lawyer that helps her. They want a class action suit but need more than one person. Josey keeps trying to encourage others to get involved. She has internal fortitude and ability. You will have to see the movie to see the turning point that is the highlight of the film.
This movie is about woman coming to terms with their past and how it affects their future. This is a very complex emotional story, not melodramatic but genuine. It is not sappy and sentimental.
Harrelson says, "It's truly a story about the Little Guy against the Machine"
The cast spent time getting acclimated to the mine and region. It was frigid icy winter in the Iron Range in Northern Minnesota. The temperature usually ranged about 19 degrees. Before the filming started they had to take a safety course in mining. They had the opportunity to get comfortable with heavy machinery designed to move and crush rock the size of a small car.
The cinematography of Minnesota with the vast expanses of snow-covered hills under the stark open skies was impressive with the dark contrast of the black ore and the dim interiors of the mine.
The complex performance by Theron should win an Oscar. The whole cast took on the challenge and did well.
Starring: Charlize Theron, Frances McDormand, Jeremy Renner, Brad Henke, Sissy Spacek, Woody Harrelson, and Richard Jenkins
Directed by: Niki Caro (Whale Rider)
Reviewed by Marieann Koehler
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