Reviewed by Victor Rebikoff.
Director: Mimi Leder, Entertainment One & Participant Media, M 120 Minutes.
The latest movie from director Mimi Leder (‘The Code’) is the remarkable but true story of Ruth Bader Ginsburg whose prominent legal role eventually led to her becoming US Supreme Court Associate Justice.
The film covers the early life of Ginsburg (Felicity Jones –‘Inferno’) beginning with her enrolment at Harvard Law School in 1956 where she learns she is one of a few women in the group of several hundred men.
And while at Harvard Ruth discovers that she has to endure the discriminatory approach of Dean Griswold (Sam Waterston –‘Miss Sloane’) defiantly proposing that all positions in law should be filled by men instead of women.
Moreover there is also a moving insight into Ruth’s marriage to husband Marty (Armie Hammer –‘Mine’) a prospective lawyer particularly supportive of his wife despite being treated for testicular cancer requiring Ruth to attend his law classes.
After her husband’s recovery and then becoming a tax attorney in New York, Ruth is unable to practise law in her own right because of her gender but eventually accepts a professorship teaching law to students.
By 1970 Ruth has proven to be a highly respected and successful professor prior to turning her attention to gender discrimination resulting in her meeting renowned political activist on civil liberties Dorothy Kenyon (Kathy Bates –‘The Boss’).
At her husband’s instigation Ruth takes on the gender discrimination case of Charles Moritz (Chris Mulkey –‘Truth’), the sole carer for his sick mother – who faces prosecution for claiming a caregiver tax deduction which at that time only women could claim.
When Ruth finally gets the support of her friend Mel Wulf (Justin Theroux –‘Mute’), Director of the American Civil Liberties Union, she decides to take the Moritz case to court including the gender discrimination matter relating to Sally Reed.
What ensues in the courtroom is both dramatic as it is electrifying with the four judges fronting a feisty female lawyer condemning the practice of gender discrimination and calling for gender equality as a basic human right.
There is no denying how captivating and enjoyable Leder’s inspirational dramatisation of Ruth Ginsburg’s life is as a gifted lawyer then later her pivotal role during the 1975 Court of Appeals hearing in overturning gender discrimination in American law.
Of greater enjoyment is Jones’s powerful performance throughout the movie especially during the drama-tense courtroom scenes, not to mention Hammer’s own portrayal as her devoted husband.
Considering the story deals with such an important issue as gender discrimination the more appropriate title for the movie should have been ‘On the Basis of Gender Discrimination’.
Vic’s Verdict: 4 ½ Stars
