Benutzerrezensionen

My wife and I, both professionals about 15 years behind the real RBG, found this movie both fascinating and painful--almost as painful as the negative reviews that object to the Subject on the basis not of sex, but of politics. Too bad the knuckle-draggers can't get past their own biases to enjoy this very good and intellectually engaging movie. And yes, we did find it suspenceful. My wife, too got directed to the typing pool after four years of college and three of grad school, and I hope I was half as supportive as Marty. We thoroughly enjoyed this reminder that even today the arc of history doesn't bend itself, and that the only way to achieve your goals, especially (gasp) equality, is to keep pushing. And we thought the acting was first-rate, and loved the physical mismatch of the tiny Jones and towering Hammer.

Most bad critics about this movie (which led me to postpone it too long) are based on a confusion. This is not a biopic about R.B.G. This is a movie about her early years in law school and her first case. It's meant to show the kind of woman she was and her struggle for equality. That's it. If you want a bio, go watch a documentary, or even better, go read a book

Now, I don't know much about RGB (I'm not from the U.S.) so I can't speak to the historical accuracy of the movie.But from an entertainment point of view, I quite liked it. Felicity Jones delivers a good performance (and I'm not much of a fan of her), as does the rest of the cast. I didn't find anything "terrible" about the script either.

I would totally recommend it. It may not be a complete biography, but it draws attention to RGB, and it will probably lead more than one to search for more about her.

From the impressive script to the tone this is a movie worth seeing.

A lot of movies I see these days fall short of the message they are trying to get across but this one definitely did not.

Ruth and her family done something incredible not just for America but the world. While this won't win any awards it's a history lesson in law which manages to make it exciting with some great performances.

The only criticism I can give to this movie really, is that I would have liked more. I would have loved if this was a mini series so we could see more of her life and accomplishments. In other words a brilliant and important film.

The film "On the Basis of Sex" is one pretty good auto bio type picture of one legal hero Ruth Bader Ginsburg(Felicity Jones) as she's a flame and light who fought for equality and equal rights for women. The film does good to trace Ruth's humble start of going thru law school and raising a family all while trying to challenge and change the system as in her era it was a male dominated world and females took a backseat. I for one enjoyed the film for it's historical background as I enjoy pictures of history and bio type stories of political and well known figures. So give the film a see if you want to see how a woman fought for change with passion and be educated about the past of a legal legend.

Hubby and I are Canadian seniors who just saw this movie and we both loved it. I was fighting back tears at the end and experienced a range of emotions throughout. RBG's indomitable spirit, hers and Marty's commitment to each other, and when she truly and passionately finds her voice - we found it truly inspirational! RBG is obviously a remarkable legal mind and the USA is lucky to have someone of her quality on their Supreme Court.

One thing though: I don't understand the reviews that slam the movie as being "political" all we saw was a lawyer sincerely trying to ensure everyone received the same treatment under the law.

Long may she serve!

The education and early career of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the first woman to sit on the highest court in America, is captured in this film. It stars Felicity Jones as the young woman who attended Harvard Law School with her husband (Armie Hammer) and went on to become one of the preeminent legal minds of her era.

The film centers on how Ginsburg was initially instrumental and ultimately essential in an appellate case that helped pave the way for gender discrimination in federal law being eradicated. Along with her husband, she worked on the appeal with the ACLU, heralded by Mel Wulf (Justin Theroux), a liberal with complicated principles. Kathy Bates makes a nice turn as a famous, hardened civil rights litigator who failed in some earlier cases. Sam Waterston is a welcome presence as the outwardly progressive but inwardly parochial Erwin Griswold, Dean of Harvard Law during Ginsburg's years as a student.

Jones shines in the role of the young Ginsburg, a dedicated, steadfast attorney who was undaunted by the entrenched views on gender in academia, the workplace and ultimately in the courts. She spends most of the film grappling with these challenges but all the while never letting go of her core principles and dedication to the law.

Although this film occasionally lurches into Oscar bait territory, it makes for a good portrayal of a woman who became a true pioneer in the history of gender equality and a good starting point to get to know Justice Ginsburg from where she started. Recommended.

Felicity Jones stars as Ruth Bader Ginsburg in this movie about how she came to argue a case in tax law and upturn two hundred years of Federal law and American culture about sexual stereotypes. Another reviewer says the movie is not political. I disagree. It is all political, from the opening scenes at Harvard Law, when the nine women in class are asked to justify their presence in place of nine similarly situated men, through the end, when she asks for justice. Times, she argues, have changed, and the law must change to reflect that. That change in attitudes may seem revolutionary, natural and proper in our society -- although there are still those who would deny it -- but the changes and arguments that led to those changes were purely political.

Director Mimi Leder directs this as a personal odyssey, and offers us characters living in the moment, from Armie Hammer cooking for his family to Justin Theroux and the ACLU lawyer who fights Mrs. Ginsburg over strategy and tactics. Central, of course, is Miss Jones as Mrs. Ginsburg. She is excellent, speaking in a muted Brooklyn accent that reminds me of my mother -- and which Mrs. Ginsburg did not use in her public appearances. It's hard to make history gripping, since we know how it came out. The movie succeeds because it offers us the inner turmoil of the people involved.

I just can't put this movie in words, but I can proudly say it's one of the best films I've ever watched. I may have some biased opinions, since RBG is one of my role models that I have been looking up towards, making this movie so much more powerful, and motivational to watch. I enjoyed every second of this film, and I would definitely want to recommend this to others as well.

"Women have been losing the same argument for 100 years!" Ruth Bader Ginsberg (Felicity Jones)

Concerning sexual equality, the above quote best expresses the feisty young lawyer, RBG, and her early fight through the courts to overturn a tax code provision that discriminated against men. Thanks to her husband, Marty (Armie Hammer), who found a discriminatory clause in the code, she was able to fight on behalf of her client and therefore women in their ambition to be equal.

On the Basis of Sex is an entertaining and informative docudrama not only about her early days at Harvard Law and as a mother and professor, but also the daunting task women had of competing with men for professional jobs that were denied them uniformly and openly. To see RBG denied legal job after legal job is almost to feel the anxiety this top-of-her-class graduate endured in finally taking a job as a professor by default.

Her eventual success in the tax case came not in a Hollywood glamorous moment but slowly after grinding research and disappointments in the court room. Anyone in law school should see this carefully crafted drama for the truths it tells about the hard work it was for this diminutive battler. Helping Marty defeat cancer was just another battle the future Supreme Court Justice would fight and eventually win but not easily.

On the Basis of Sex is an old-fashioned courtroom drama about a judicial titan whose life is still inspiring as she approaches its end. "He's not going to take me seriously," she says in an early encounter with a judge. We know how that turns out for liberalism's "Obi Wan Kenobi."

Ruth Bader Ginsburg's catapulting from venerated Supreme Court Justice to cultural icon and patron saint of liberalism has unsurprisingly led to the release of two films about her in 2018, the documentary "RBG" and now the feature film "On the Basis of Sex." Both films mirror the public's fascination with the now-85-year-old and offer evidence that RBG warrants the obsessive adoration, but "On the Basis of Sex" feeds into the legend.

The film begins with Ginsburg (Felicity Jones) and her husband, Marty (Armie Hammer), in their newlywed law school days in which Ruth was one of nine women in her Harvard Law class of nearly 500, establishing context for the sex-based discrimination that she would fight in her career and the equal rights crusader she'd become. Yet Daniel Stiepleman's script incidentally positions the film as a career-spanning biopic this way, when in fact most of the film takes place close to 15 years later.

That's a surprise more than a flaw, as many of the film's best moments come out of a deep intellectual dive into the case of Moritz v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue and what Ruth, Marty and the ACLU's Mel Wulf (Justin Theroux) believed they had to say and do to convince three white male appellate judges to change the course of history. That's fascinating, but it's definitely not the advertised story of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and how she became a Supreme Court Justice.

When the film's not awash in legalese, it's trying to portray Ruth in a way that lives up to the "hype." There are lots of "ooh" and "ahh" moments as a character says something really sexist and Ruth has the perfect response, a device that kills it in a crowded theater but plays more into the myth of Ginsburg than the humanity. Jones, an outstanding actor, is left with the responsibility of trying to ground this prophetic character with a script that's lacking subtlety. Fights with her teenage daughter, Jane (Cailee Spaeny), for example, happen instantly to blatantly serve the purpose of the story, or Jane behaves in this perfectly feminist way that convinces her mother to solider on, punctuated by the camera holding on Jones so she can convey a moment of epiphany. It's the stuff of lesser biopics to be sure.

Nevertheless, "On the Basis of Sex" conveys the key details of Ruth's story and the social importance of her work and Moritz case. (It also can't be given too hard a time for taking liberties; Stiepelman is Ginsburg's nephew and she reviewed his script for accuracy.) In particular, the film captures the importance of Ruth and Marty's relationship. Even though Hammer is far too dreamy to play a tax lawyer, the film is clear yet not over-the-top in conveying the equality of their partnership and the support they provided to each other. Jones and Hammer are terrific actors, but director Mimi Leder deserves some credit for facilitating their chemistry the right way.

The film also succeeds in communicating the scope of sex-based discrimination in the U.S. as recently as the early '70s and the amount of cases that Ruth examined as director of the ACLU's Women's Right Project. The Moritz case was the first of a series of strategic moves to slowly change the legal precedents in sex discrimination cases, and the seriousness of changing minds and ultimately engrained beliefs about gender is not lost on the film and factors into much of the conflict as Ruth, Mary and Mel strategize how to frame their appeal.

Buried within their hero's crusade is an unheralded performance from character actor Chris Mulkey as Charles Moritz, the bachelor denied tax breaks to take care of his sick, dependent mother because as a man the law did not consider him a caregiver. Every so often during the verbally superfluous court scene, Leder will peak back at Mulkey, whose eyes remind us that what matters here is not about when a man or woman should or shouldn't be allowed to do, but what a human should be entitled to to take care of another human who can't take care of themselves.

"On the Basis of Sex" needs more graceful moments like this to complement its big picture, high stakes, "history in the making" focus. But while it somewhat settles for raising up the legend of RBG (again), it deserves credit for shining a strong spotlight on what it took to tip the scales of equal rights for women closer to justice and the woman who -- in supporting partnership with her husband -- dared to make the first push.

~Steven C

Thanks for reading! Visit Movie Muse Reviews for more

Although I finally watched "On the Basis of Sex" to honor the recent passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and although it surely deals with some important legal precedents, I'm not going to pretend it's not a standard, even ho-hum, biopic and legal drama. It barely rises above an extended episode of "Law & Order" and even includes Sam Waterston in the cast. Generally, Hollywood is just bad an rendering anything academic or intellectual on screen, and so, as here, they resort to merely saying over and over again that Ginsburg is smart and to complimenting her writing of briefs. They say it because they don't know how to show it. When we finally get to the courtroom part, they also resort to a trope of a eureka moment where she turns the case around after some fictitious flubbing of it by the Ginsburgs--while, of course, the level of the musical score is heightened for some manufactured inspiration.

Such movies are better at relationship and family dynamics, though. Indeed, the screenplay was written by Ginsburg's nephew. When characters aren't pigeonholed as sexist baddies or egalitarian heroes, the picture does well enough. I don't know whether Ginsburg's daughter was as instrumental in her thinking as suggested here, but as drama of the real world reflecting the legal battle it's effective, as is the family's marriage of equals. Although their involvement in the case depicted here is reportedly fictional, the inclusion of Dorothy Kenyon and Pauli Murray is a nice thought in acknowledging Ginsburg's predecessors. Felicity Jones may be miscast, but she and the rest of the cast are fine enough, I suppose, and the focus on Ginsburg's skirts and appearance otherwise in male-dominated settings works well. As most seem to agree, however, the documentary "RBG" (2018) does a better job examining this central figure in the courtroom part of the women's liberation movement and who experienced renewed status as a cultural icon in her later years.

While RBG is definitely an inspirational historical figure I was interested in knowing more about, this story about some of the more important parts of her life was about as interesting to watch as, well, a tax trial. Good acting throughout, and the last 15 minutes almost makes the slow first half worth the wait. An inspirational history lesson for some, but some will doze off before the payoff at the end.

A documentary is a documentary and a movie inspired by real events is just that. Each stand alone. RBG is an outstanding documentary to which On the Basis of Sex should not be compared. Yes, the movie is old fashioned reminding one of the classic movies of the 40s. So what. The subject matter is still timely even more so in the climate we are now living in...unfortunately there are probably many who want to go back to the "great" pre-Ginsburg days.

Conventional biopic about part of the life of a woman who consciously and deliberately overturned convention and expectation. Felicity Jones is good in the lead role, and there's fine support - it's just that the whole thing perhaps deserves something more and a little different.

Interesting and well made but, like many true story's about the life of real people it lacks any real drama or excitement and tends to drag in places. As an insight into the life and times of the quite remarkable Ruth Bader Ginsburg though, it works very well and is worth viewing just for that. Best watched on a lazy Sunday afternoon with tea and biscuits in my humble opinion. 6.5/10

The people that are saying the movie was boring probably aren't interested in court cases as that was a big part of the movie. After all RGB is an attorney! The movie is about how she was one of the first that fought for gender equality & won. The entire theater was applauding. If you are a fan, than you definitely should go see it.... but bring some tissue - the very end of the movie will give you the feels.

I have a degree in engineering and in 2000 found issues in the workplace with men who didn't like to have women in his department. One manager believed there was no point in hiring them as they all get pregnant and quit. Never mind that he had two highly successful women who had kids at home working in his department. Unfortunately, I did exactly as he said but I had not set out to do so. My overall department was changing while I was on maternity leave and would have been working for him when I returned. That was not a battle I was willing to go through. All the same, there are now men who quit after their wives have children and we all deserve the right to that choice. In the years I was there, I made very valuable contributions and made systemic changes that were applied to all future products. When I was ready to return to work, I didn't return to engineering as there wasn't another opportunity in our area that appealed to me but I do own a company in a male dominated field and as the owner can work my schedule for a successful business and successful family. Without women like RGB, that would never have been possible. So she wasn't the first female justice, she was the first female justice that made sweeping changes to give men and women equal rights. What good is a female justice if they are only going to uphold laws that keep women held back?

One aspect of her life I wasn't familiar with was the close marriage she had. For a husband and wife to support each other so was beautiful to see. Despite your gender, we are all stronger when our spouses support us.

The only thing I think they could have done better was to list some of the most important laws she got changed or fights that she won in the end bio information. I also would have liked it if they had included her being sworn in as a judge, but I suppose that wasn't as big of a deal since she was the 2nd.

Ruth's Contribution to Overcoming Sexism in United States Laws. Beautiful film very respectful of the family made with the help of the family. Actually, the writer is of the family.

This well meaning movie shows the discrimination RBG faced as a woman lawyer and her struggle to win her first landmark case on sexual discrimination. It's a dry topic but the movie tries hard to make it interesting. A bit more scope on her subsequent accomplishments would have been better than just spending all the time on one case.

The casting is puzzling. Felicity Jones is wrong for the role. She has a sweet English face. Not only does she not have the physical look of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, she doesn't act passionately intellectual. Armie Hammer is just too tall and too good looking for the role of Martin Ginsburg. Totally out of place. What were they thinking?

Not as good as it could have been.

This movie was very well done. Good acting and a good story. Please ignore the obviously biased trolls. This is a very good movie.