Film Review - On the Basis of Sex (12A)

What does it mean to be a Harvard man?

On the Basis of Sex is a distinctly Trump-era movie, one that seems a direct response to political events of the past two years. Like The Post and BlackKklansman it mines 20th century US history to reflect on a liberal-conservative culture war that's raging harder than ever today. The fact that its protagonist is still - as of my posting this review - an active member of America's Supreme Court and that its US release came just months after the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation, provides this well-made but conventional biopic with an urgency it might not otherwise have had.

Felicity Jones plays Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the pioneering civil rights lawyer, who highlighted and challenged the gender inequality written into America's legal system. Charting the early years of Bader Ginsburg's career it opens with her arrival at Harvard Law School, one of a handful of women in a bastion of maleness. Chauvinism is her daily experience - never more so than at a dinner held by the college Dean (Sam Waterston) - but supported by her devoted husband Marty (Armie Hammer) she excels. Post-studies she commits to academia and the development of thinking on women's rights, but her career truly finds direction - as does the film - when she takes on the case of Charles Moritz, who faces discrimination on the basis of being an unmarried man caring for his invalid mother. If you challenge gender-based prejudice one case at a time, she muses, demonstrating that the injustice cuts both ways, the end result will be legal and cultural revolution.

Penned by first-time screenwriter (and Bader Ginsburg nephew) Daniel Stiepleman, the script dives deep into the law, letting the drama make sense of all the legal terminology; there's no dumbing down here. It proves smart to focus on a single case, one which serves to elucidate the movie's themes of equality and injustice. The screenplay also emphasizes the power of a matriarchal support-system, referencing the rapport Bader Ginsburg's had with her late mother and focusing on the tricky but ultimately positive relationship with her own daughter (Bad Times at the El Royale's Cailee Spaeny). If the writer's inexperience shows up anywhere, it's in the predictability of certain plot beats, like the climactic moment of courtroom grandstanding (although many a seasoned screen dramatist has indulged in exactly the same). 

Director Mimi Leder does a does a commendable, unshowy job, moving the plot along fluidly and letting the cast do the heavy lifting. Jones demonstrates steely determination as the campaigning lawyer, finding the tension between focused intelligence and youthful frustration. Her Brooklyn accent struck me as variable, a bit of a distraction until the quiet force of her performance took over. As husband Marty, Hammer is the definition of charm (reportedly the man was just as likeable in real life) and a poster-boy for the progressive Sixties husband. The symbiosis between the two - both characters and actors - lends a touching love-story element, while providing an object lesson in the kind of gender balance Bader Ginsburg was striving to achieve. The film is nicely acted at all points - Justin Theroux is well-rounded as Ruth's friend and legal sparring-partner Melvin Wulf, while Kathy Bates turns in a dependably spiky cameo as retired civil rights attorney Dorothy Kenyon. But this is chiefly Jones' and Hammer's show, and thankfully they nail the chemistry.

This reality-inspired tale never tries to be spectacular, going about its narrative business with the same pragmatic, no-nonsense approach I suspect Bader Ginsburg has always taken to her legal battles. It's not as directly confrontational as say BlackKklansman, when establishing the story's links with current events (although one mildly theatrical flourish right at the end connects it directly with 2019). Purely in terms of timing, however, the film couldn't be more welcome. And its celebration of RBG's graceful doggedness in pursuit of sexual equality didn't need any fireworks. It simply needed to be told well. Job done.

Gut Reaction: Quietly engrossed most of the time, and moved as well - particularly by the Ruth-Marty connection.

Memorable Moment: One tough living-room hearing.

Ed's Verdict: 7/10. Made with workmanlike (workpersonlike?) efficiency and sharply acted at all points, On the Basis of Sex overcomes a tendency to cliche, delivering its message with considerable power.