Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas won't be first in line to see North Country. On two occasions in Niki Caro's fact-based look at sexual harassment in a Minnesota iron mine during the late 1980s, Anita Hill's Congressional testimony is shown on television.

North Country could be used in a sensitivity training course, although there are other reasons to recommend it. And since the courts have played such a prominent role in affecting change in this arena, perhaps every jurist should be required to see it. The social and historical context is never easily forgotten, and while things have hopefully changed in the intervening years, audiences from all walks of life could benefit from watching this stirring, issue-oriented film in the noble Hollywood tradition of Norma Rae, Silkwood, and Erin Brockovich.

Accounting for dramatic liberties, as well as any naiveté on the viewer's part, what heroine Josie Aimes (Charlize Theron) and her female colleagues endure is a shocking display of insensitivity and mean-spiritedness. The degree to which Anita Hill's experience compares is open to debate. Certainly the mine presented a more physically dangerous environment, but ranking sexist slurs, crude pranks, and vulgar innuendo is neither a worthwhile nor illuminating exercise.

One difference between the two workplaces is telling however. In a white collar setting such as a D.C. law firm or government office of the period, objections to the very idea of a woman doing a traditionally male job were less pronounced (and only partly because there was no heavy lifting involved). In the blue collar setting of a Northern Minnesota mine, we learn how deeply the men resented their jobs being filled by women, which came about because the courts upheld equal opportunity laws. Their opposition had everything to do with economics and wounded pride.

The belief that the sexes were supposed to stay in their rightful places was apparently so ingrained that Josie’s father (Richard Jenkins) is shamed when his daughter comes to work for the company he has been employed by his entire adult life. Her loose reputation doesn't help. We meet her as a battered spouse, going home to her parents with two children in tow. The paternity of the eldest, a boy, is unclear and becomes a crucial plot point.

In order to make a decent wage to support her kids, Josie signs on at the mine and faces the taunting along with the handful of other female workers. "Work hard, keep your mouth shut, and take it like a man," says the plant manager with no hint of irony. The fear of physical violence is constant and seemingly accepted. Josie stands out as a looker and soon fears she'll be raped by any number of men, including her high school flame, who supervises her crew.

After bypassing the union and going directly to management, Josie cannot convince her female co-workers to stand up and decides to sue on her own. With the help of her attorney, played with compassionate subtlety by Woody Harrelson, she successfully counters the company's "nuts and sluts" defense. 

While there are no surprises, and minimal legal procedure, an emotionally satisfying courtroom ending is achieved. The emphasis director Caro (Whale Rider) places on the hard, frozen landscape enhances the movie's realism, yet also contributes to a deliberate, sometimes plodding pace.

Casting Frances McDormand as Josie's best friend was shrewd for several reasons. She's a fine actress but also lends humor by trying on an accent similar to the one she used in her Oscar-winning performance as Marge Gunderson in Fargo. Tapping Sissy Spacek, who got her Academy Award for Coal Miner's Daughter in 1980, to play Josie's mother was another resonant choice.

The pregnant sheriff Marge was underestimated in the Coen Brothers' dark comedy, and assumptions based on regional stereotypes can influence reactions to this movie.  Minnesotans have a reputation as being liberal-minded, gentle, and folksy. North Country, a blue collar film through and through, belies any preconceptions.

It also overcomes Theron's starlet beauty. Josie isn't particularly smart and her judgment isn't the best. But she's gutsy. It won't be enough for Theron's second Oscar -- she doesn't come close to out-gritting her performance in Monster -- but ultimately Josie gives as good as she gets. 

(Released by Warner Bros. and rated "R" for sequences involving sexual harassment including violence and dialogue, and for language.)