I just read the book “CLASS ACTION” that this is based off of and highly recommend it.

This film should serve as an introduction to the book as it is a quick summary of a long, complex issue.

The court room scenes in the movie were weak and did not even begin to show why the case took 10 years in the courts. The ending felt unrealistic & rushed as everyone just suddenly changed their minds and sided with Josey. Woody Harrelson’s ice pee speech was just pathetic
and I’m not sure how that public shaming would’ve swung someone’s testimony180 degrees.

While I was saddened to read about how rough these women’s lives were,
I felt that having Josie be a rape victim and an abused wife—almost detracted from the point of the film. Like that was needed to make her
sympathetic? Even if she was a “woman of loose morals” like they tried to imply that shouldn’t affect her believability as a witness or affect whether the harassment in the mines was acceptable or not. Yet it seemed like the ending made it seem like “oh she was raped” now we believe her.

Aside from those issues, the film was incredibly powerful. It was great to see the background to this landmark case. To see what kinds of things happened to these women. (ALL those scenes really happened to real women!) To see that it wasn’t so long ago that all these things happened. Unfortunately, most of us have had to put up with sexist
comments/behavior (even if it’s a kind of “benevolent” sexism) on the job – but (hopefully) few of us have had to deal with a constant barrage of attacks both verbally, physically and psychological from all sides. It’s hard to imagine, sometimes hard to watch – but so worth the viewing.

I think the film was good about showing that not all the men were bad, but the circumstances that would lead all the workers (men & women) to just put up with it and not say anything. I thought some of the most powerful scenes were from the women who had worked there a while and felt they had to put up with it. I wish they had dealt more w/ the bald guy who you could tell thought the behavior was wrong and made some weak attempts to stop it. I did like how they showed that even someone who loved the “victim” could stand by & be silent because of a culture of intimidation/fear, “comrade-ship”/ code of silence and just old fashioned sexism.

The scenes of retaliation and societal backlash were also immensely powerful making us understand what a struggle it can be to stand up for what is right. I liked how they reminded us by including clips of Anita Hill speaking of her story. In the book they talk about how some of the
women were inspired to join in after seeing that testimony and how Hill’s case affected the mine case.

Yes, there are some clichés and a painfully/sudden unrealistic ending and it compress a time line of 12 years of harassment + 10 years of trials & other legal matters – it is still well worth watching and overlooking a few minor flaws.

I recommend the movie & the book. Pat & Lois (the first two women in the suit) are heroes and I’m sorry the suit probably brought them more personal pain than anything else, but what they’ve done for other women is timeless.

Well written and acted, this is a commendable film from Niki Caro (Whale Rider, an excellent movie). For anybody who enjoys movies about social justice (and injustice) this will be a must-see, although it doesn’t rise to the brilliance of Silkwood or Matewan. Unfortunately this is so due to a weak ending which seems more like it belongs on a telemovie rather than a film of this stature.

Goes to show that you shouldn’t listen to film critics. This movie has been derided as “Erin Brockovich goes to Fargo” but it really isn’t that simplistic.

More than just a retelling of a landmark court case, this movie examines the complexities around the phenomenon of sexual harassment: why it occurs and why it is difficult for victims to pursue their attackers or change the situation.

In the movie, the traditionally male workforce at a large iron mine keenly resent a court decision overturning a company ban on hiring women. Located in an economically depressed rural area of northern Minnesota, the mine jobs are dangerous, but are also some of the best jobs available—and they are hard to come by.

The movie illustrates how normal people can do monstrous things when motivated by fear and provided with vulnerable scapegoats.

The men, afraid their place as breadwinners-and thus their identify-is at stake, take it out on the female workers at the plant-the abuse escalates from unrelenting verbal assault to physical intimidation and then sexual assault. Far from being just the crude blunders of men unaccustomed to working with women, these acts evidence a cruel calculus at work. They want the women to quit and they are using tactics most efficient at intimidating the women and isolating them from each other and from available resources for help.

The movie also highlights how the aggressors target particularly vulnerable women—those with personal histories that harm their standing in the mostly conservative small town community aroundt the mine (a single, divorced mother is the movie’s protagonist).

I think the movie also does good job portraying the nuances of responses from the victims. Many, not wanting to admit the true nature of the abuse, blame other victims for “bringing it on themselves” and for “rocking the boat” by persisting in complaining to company management.

It is an interesting examination of the root causes of situations like these and why change is so hard.

I also found the stark scenes of the cold, Minnesota winter to be a perfect metaphor for the difficulties of life faced by all of the mine workers, their desperation, and the isolation felt by the women there.

The one false note is the very pat courtroom confession scene that wraps up the movie and is too unrealistic.

Other than that, it is a great movie that really made me think.