Ahoy, squirts! Quint here to introduce Capone and his opinion of the Charlize Theron's big Oscar flick, NORTH COUNTRY. He loveded it. Like, a lot. Enjoy!

Hey, everyone. Capone in Chicago here. I'm still trying to stop my head from spinning long enough to compile a couple reports on the Chicago International Film Festival (which wraps up this week with THE WEATHER MAN), but there was one film in particular that played during the Fest that I needed to spotlight.

As of today, this is the film to beat come Oscar time. Now I say that having seen very few of the other real contenders, but if the Academy Awards were held today, North Country would sweep up a bunch of statues. I know some of you flinch when the name of Oscar is invoked, but don’t be frightened: North Country is worthy of you time and money any time of year. Director Nike Caro (Whale Rider) perfectly captures the time, place, and attitudes of early-1980s Northern Minnesota and takes us on a sometimes-terrifying journey through landmark sexual harassment lawsuit that changed the workplace forever.

Proving that her uglified turn in Monster wasn’t a fluke, Charlize Theron delivers another glorious performance as Josey Aimes, a single mother of two fleeing to her parents’ home to escape her abusive boyfriend. As soon as she walks in their door, her father Hank (Richard Jenkins) assumes her man beat her because she cheated. And that pretty much sums up the male outlook on women in this coal-mining town. Josey’s mother (Sissy Spacek) tries to be supportive, but mostly she just wants Josey to move into her own place so peace can be restored in the Aimes house. For a time, Josey moves in with her old friend Glory (Frances McDormand, getting another chance to sling some Minnesota accent) and her husband Kyle (Sean Bean), while she gets a job at the local mine.

Much of North Country is told in flashback during the trial in which Josey Aimes (not the actual name of the real-life woman) sued the mining company for allowing and encouraging sexist behavior. Josey details (and we see) some of the worst indignities and insults you can imagine, and, afraid of stirring things up, the women just endure it. Glory, the sole female in the mine’s union leadership, is probably the best at dealing with abuse and does her best to comfort the other women. But the attacks sometime become physical, especially against the two prettiest female workers, Josey and Sherry (Michelle Monaghan). Josey attempts to go through the proper management channels to air her grievances, but is brazenly ignored time and time again. Her options exhausted, Josey enlists the help of attorney Bill White (Woody Harrelson), and even he tries to talk her out of it, insisting that a class action would be more winnable even though none of the other women miners back Josey initially.

North Country grabs hold of your gut and doesn’t let go, and it’s filled with so many fine performances, it almost doesn’t seem fair to other movies. One of the most terrifying roles is that of Josey’s old high school friend Bobby Sharp (Jeremy Renner, who played Jeffrey Dahmer a couple years back in an sadly overlooked film called Dahmer), who turns on her once he finds out she’s working in the mine with him. His reasons come to light eventually during the courtroom battle, and they reveal just how far back in Josey’s life her suffering has gone.

North Country is just one great scene after another. The moment set during a union meeting, in which Josey must address a roomful of people who hate her to death is particularly difficult to watch, but it’s the moment in the film that will get Richard Jenkins (the dead father from HBO’s “Six Feet Under”) his Oscar nomination for sure (and probably make you cry). McDormand is also a lock, especially since her character develops Lou Gehrig’s disease halfway through the film, and we know how much the academy likes its diseases. Perhaps the film’s only week spots are the courtroom scenes, which wrap up just a little too neatly and completely ignore any type of actual trial protocol in the name of high drama. It might make you wince, but it won’t make you dislike the film. You can be as cynical as you’d like about “message” films, “disease” films, or any movie that seems to dare the academy not to recognize it, but North Country is so good that it rises above it all to deliver a pure and solid emotional experience.

Capone