Absolutely the worst movie.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Josey Aimes (Charlize Theron) is being questioned in court by the opposing counsel. She tells the story of her beating by her husband. It's 1989. She had run away with her two kids back to her parents in northern Minnesota. Her father Hank (Richard Jenkins) does not approve while her mother Alice (Sissy Spacek) is the quietly suffering type. They're both pushing her back to her husband Wayne. Glory (Frances McDormand) tells her about jobs at the iron mines with Pearson Taconite and Steel hiring. She and her kids would move in with Glory and her husband Kyle (Sean Bean). However, sexism is rampant at the company sometimes coming from the company itself. It's lewd jokes, groping and general anger. The men are not all happy. Jobs are scarce. Her father Hank works there, and also her former boyfriend Bobby Sharp (Jeremy Renner) who becomes her immediate supervisor.I know the film says it's inspired by a true story. I just find it so reminiscent of those Lifetime movies where everything goes wrong for these women. Sure there is an all star cast. In fact, Frances McDormand and Charlize Theron were nominated for Oscars. It just feels too Hollywood with supermodel Charlize Theron. I can't buy her as a miner, and I can't get fully into the movie. It would have been better with Michelle Monaghan as the lead. She has slightly more of a hot-every-woman vibe. Although she doesn't have the big name like Charlize.

Set aside the aspect that the story is based on a landmark legal case, one that had profound impact around the world and never mind the drama that conveys how a battered mother of two was castigated, even by her own father, because she kept secret her rape by a teacher when she was sixteen; there are, in my opinion, nine good reasons for watching this movie, and they are: Charlize Theron, Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson, Richard Jenkins, Jeremy Renner, Sean Bean, Sissy Spacek, Michelle Monaghan and Brad William Henke. Experienced, talented and all delivering very good performances. Theron and McDormand were nominated for Oscars in a year (2005) that did not lack in great movies and when the Oscars nominations were limited to five.In 2005-2006, I was not able to watch as many movies I have in recent years and so I overlooked this movie for too long. The cast is, as you obviously could tell, my first reason for picking this movie to watch recently. The box office was not a success, though ratings by critics and viewers alike were good to not bad; the storyline doesn't have what one would call entertaining appeal. However, for those who look for more than just entertainment, those who want an experience, this movie will deliver the goods. I was surprised how a few reviewers completely missed the point of the movie, focusing on the wrong things, the ones that, in life, don't matter all that much; instead I think I got the message that Michael Seitman was conveying through his script, and what McDormand, Bean and especially Harrelson were making. Theron had the least desirable part, that of the lead, because her character is one that made all the others shine; I can't think of too many movies that work in such a way.The closing credits inform the audience of the importance of the legal precedent and how money was never the issue; the movie uses the story to tell something more important about life than a legal struggle and if you get that, you are not only happier for having watched it, you are wiser than most. So with all that being said, you can determine if this movie is for you.

When some friends rented this and I was forced to watch it, I was far from thrilled. I'm more of a thriller, action, comedy, horror, anything but drama kind of guy. Most of the movie is quite boring. However, right at the end I discovered a story that was powerful and moving for me. At the end of the movie it is revealed that the main character was sexually assaulted by her teacher while in high school and he is the father of her son. Everyone thought her son's father was this pseudo-boyfriend she had in high school. Because of this, her father has resented her and almost seems to hate her since that happened. I got the feeling he thought his own daughter was white trash and looked down on her ever since she got pregnant in high school. The pseudo-boyfriend never said anything because he thought she was willingly sleeping with her teacher, which made him hate and resent her as well. She had never told anyone about the assault either, I guess out of shame and undeserved guilt. So all these years she had been carrying the burden of this terrible thing that had been done to her all alone. She was even more than alone, her own father was bitter against her because of her teenage pregnancy. Then at the end of the movie the teacher's terrible crime is finally revealed. The look on the father's face, as he realizes that all these years he's been bitter and resentful to his own daughter because of a terrible crime that was committed against her, was extremely powerful and moving. The guilt he felt for being a distant and unloving father, the rage at the attacker, the renewed love for his daughter, you can see him going through all these powerful emotions as the realization hits him. This is a story of the reconciliation between a father and daughter. The rest is all background noise. Call me an old softie if you will, I found her forgiveness of her father for all those terrible years to be amazing. The bond that was broken was restored and the monster that caused it was brought to justice. It is a beautiful story in the end, even more so because of all the foulness she has to endure to get there.

Inspired by actual events, a mother of two out of necessity goes to work as a miner, but is met with outrageous and disgraceful discrimination and harassment because of her gender. With all the odds stacked against her, can she win a court case against her employers?The lead actress Charlize Theron, must surely be the best dramatic performer in the States at the moment. She is stunning and outstanding in her role.The production is first class and one can almost feel, taste and touch the mining community in the way the film is presented. The whole movie has a ring of authenticity about it and every single player gives a full throttle believable portrayal.This picture had me engrossed from start to finish:Hence deserves top or near top marks:9/10