On the Basis of Sex

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.

"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."

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.

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!