On the Basis of Sex

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."

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.

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.

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.