Warm portrait of pioneering judge
On The Basis of Sex
On June 14, 1993, President Bill Clinton nominated
Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the Supreme Court of the United States. She was only the second woman to be selected for one of the highest positions in the federal judiciary and the Senate confirmed her nomination by 96 votes to three.
Nicknamed ‘The Notorious RBG’, Ginsburg has been a trailblazing advocate for women’s rights and gender equality since the 1970s, when she operated as a volunteer lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
Her ascent is lovingly chronicled in director Mimi Leder’s glossy drama On
The Basis Of Sex, which focuses on the 16-year period between Ginsburg’s arrival at Harvard Law School and her appearance in the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals to argue for a tax deduction for caregiver expenses on behalf of a 63-year-old male client.
This hard-fought victory opened the door to genderbased discrimination cases, which underpin Ginsburg’s lustrous reputation.
Screenwriter Daniel Stiepleman, who is Ginsburg’s nephew, pays glowing tribute to his aunt during two hours of gentlypaced human drama, galvanised by winning performances from Felicity Jones and Armie Hammer.
The film opens in 1956, when Ruth (Jones) follows her husband Martin (Hammer) to Harvard Law School.
She is one of nine women granted admission to the hallowed halls of an institution that prides itself on moulding brilliant legal minds. Dean Erwin Griswold (Sam Waterston) can barely contain his disdain.
On The Basis Of Sex is a moving and handsomely crafted valentine to a marriage that provided firm foundations for Ginsburg’s war of attrition to challenge gender discrimination in law.
Jones and Hammer are an attractive on-screen pairing and Leder’s film builds predictably to a courtroom showdown, where Ruth argues passionately that the 178 federal laws that differentiate on the basis of gender are obstacles to the aspirations of future generations.
The leads are ably supported by Kathy Bates as attorney and political activist Dorothy Kenyon and Justin Theroux as ACLU legal director Mel Wulf.
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