“North Country” is the best Lifetime movie I’ve ever seen. It is at times upsetting, touching, and uplifting. Unfortunately, it’s also emotionally dishonest.

Charlize Theron, fresh off her Oscar win for “Monster,” puts in a strong, nuanced performance as one of the young women wronged in the nation’s first sexual harassment class-action suit. Like Julia Roberts in “Erin Brockovich,” Ms. Theron will likely get nominated for an Academy Award for her performance in this Minnesota mining drama, and – unlike Ms. Roberts – she might even deserve to win.

Director Niki Caro has surrounded her heroine with a strong, exceptional cast that includes Frances McDormand, Richard Jenkins, and Sissy Spacek. And despite the cold and often unaccommodating northern Minnesota surroundings of the film’s action, Ms. Caro has found a rugged beauty there, meant to reflect the character of her protagonists.

But the high production value doesn’t hide the fact that “North Country” isn’t much better than most “wronged woman” movies lingering in the pink ghetto of late night women’s television. It retains a common thread: cowardice. While these films take on real-world problems, they often strip them of relevance by simplifying complicated issues to the point of futility. Instead of describing a genuine moral dilemma, they merely serve to fuel victimization fantasies.

The formula is simple: Take an area where women are easily victimized, take one (or more) evil male, add one Tori Spelling (or similarly washed-up television star), and stir. Though “North Country” seems at first to steer clear of these pitfalls, the complicated and conflicted characters soon lose their depth as it becomes clear that a pat vindication awaits at the end.

When we meet strong, determined Josey Aimes (Ms. Theron), she has just left an abusive husband and returned to her parents’ home. Her father – an otherwise respectful man – thinks she’s a slut. Of her two children, her son was born out of wedlock when Josey was 16 – he hates her. The point seems to be that a woman doesn’t have to be a saint to have protection against sexual harassment.

Yet by the end of this film, it is clear that Ms. Theron’s character must, in fact, be a saint. She is redeemed in her father’s and son’s eyes during an emotional witness stand testimony (surprise). She regains the respect – and awe – of her peers. And as if to prove exactly how low it will stoop to join the canon of victimization drama, “North Country” wheels Ms. McDormand’s half-dead character into the courtroom to save the day at the precise denouement of the film’s action.

For the most part, this emotional trickery is successful. “North Country” has its finger on your tear ducts and is not afraid to push. But to what end? The cheapest female dramas on television know how to make the audience stay tuned through endless commercial breaks.

The moments of “North Country” that truly drive home the filmmakers’ disconnect from reality involve Clarence Thomas. During her own tribulations, Ms. Theron’s character continually looks to Anita Hill for inspiration. At one point, Woody Harrelson, playing her lawyer, tells her, “Look at Anita Hill, she’s you.”

Even if you don’t think Ms. Hill lied, she certainly contradicted her own testimony enough to render her accusations questionable. While the action of the film takes place during the hearings leading up to Justice Thomas’s Supreme Court confirmation, in 2005 it is simply not acceptable to use Ms. Hill as the poster child for sexual harassment victims.

It is fraudulent to assume that women are always right in these situations, and disrespectful to the women who actually suffer from harassment. This movie presents both Josey and Ms. Hill as women engaged in a battle of good and evil, with (in the former case) a happy ending ensured – Ms. Theron’s character wins her case, gets the guy, and attains near riches. If only it were so easy.

The court settlements that these women received were not the end of the story, and, quite typically, did not end their trials. Those of them who remain in the workforce today will have discovered that women now face different obstacles – much harassment has shifted from violent acts and crude drawings on the wall to innuendo and subtler aggressions. But “North Country” hides from this sort of nuance. The only struggles this film is willing to fight are those already won.

mkeane@nysun.com