On the Basis of Sex reminds us why Ruth Bader Ginsburg is Queen

AFI Fest Review: On the Basis of Sex

On the Basis of Sex is a sprightly biopic about the legendary Ruth Bader Ginsburg that reminds us why we need to bow down.

The opening night film of this year’s AFI Fest was the world premiere of Mimi Leder’s Ruth Bader Ginsburg biopic, On the Basis of Sex. I’ve been waiting for this movie specifically for a year, but I’ve been waiting for a movie about the woman known as RBG for awhile. Adding on to the emotional weight of the film — the announcement that the real Justice Ginsburg was in the hospital, recovering after breaking three ribs.

In a year that’s seen women all but scream in the street, RBG can never leave us. So it was, with all those emotions, that I went into this movie. And I say emotions because as humans, we’re emotional, and yet women are continually persecuted for this trait. Yet On the Basis of Sex says we should be emotional. Leder and screenwriter Daniel Stiepleman craft a movie about how passion and intensity are the values of those who change the world.

Felicity Jones stars as Ruth Bader Ginsburg in Mimi Leder’s ON THE BASIS OF SEX, a Focus Features release.

In 1956, Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Felicity Jones) is one of nine women accepted into Harvard Law School, eventually transitioning into a professor tackling a sexual discrimination case that could eliminate discrimination on the basis of sex.

It’s sad that in 2018 we praise a movie for not subtly giving women guff for their life choices. Example? No member of Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s family gives her lip for having a job, for being smart, for wanting to be her own person. The film is packed with moments like these, where there’s a tacit awareness of how judgmental biopics about women are and seeks to change them.

Jones’ Ruth Bader Ginsburg isn’t just feisty, but dogged and tenacious, starting with her attempts to crack the glass ceiling at Harvard. Her dean, Erwin Griswold played by Sam Waterston, starts off a dinner asking the women why they believe their seat shouldn’t have gone to a man, setting the tone for everything RBG wants to change. For Ginsburg, she knows women fight twice as hard to get half as far, and the fact that men don’t see a problem with that kills her.

Felicity Jones stars as Ruth Bader Ginsburg in Mimi Leder’s ON THE BASIS OF SEX, a Focus Features release.

Leder and cinematographer Michael Grady keep Ginsburg front and center, even when they’re not overtly drawing attention to her. A sea of male faces in university scenes leave Ginsburg standing out because she has longer hair. Her femininity is what makes her distinctive because of the sheer absence of it in the universities or dinner parties she goes to. When men are shown in close-up, it’s during their cigar-chomping diatribes, noting any concession to sex discrimination existing is tantamount to the destruction of the American family. These moments will go over the heads of non-film buffs, but skillfully present the critique that those who only seek to step on the necks of women are those who fear their power is threatened.

It’s amazing to think that Jones is able to pull off playing someone like Ruth Bader Ginsburg (the role was originally planned for Natalie Portman), and yet she sails with flying colors. Jones infuses the character with life, but it’s often obscured by a chronic need to be on the defensive. Her daughter, Jane (played by Bad Times at the El Royale’s discovery Cailee Spaeny) says her mother has to prove she’s right, and it isn’t a slight against her mother’s intelligence, but the fear that she won’t live up to it. It’s moments like these where Stiepleman’s script is so fantastic, as it packs in issues of family and the different generations of feminism without directly calling on them as an Important Life Moment.

(l to r.) Felicity Jones as Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Cailee Spaeny as Jane Ginsburg, and Kathy Bates as Dorothy Kenyon star in Mimi Leder’s ON THE BASIS OF SEX, a Focus Features release.

Thankfully, On the Basis of Sex doesn’t go for easy, Saturday morning moments of mush. There are no winky moments about 2018 espoused in 1959 or 1970. In fact, much of the film’s impact is in how little things have changed. Once the film jumps to 1970, Ginsburg becomes mired in a case regarding the definition of “caretaker” to include men, turning the film into both a court procedural, with Ginsburg proving that sex-based discrimination exists and that her own passion for the law will pay off. The film’s beats may be familiar, but the runtime flies with all the swiftness of Jones’ RBG spitting out court cases. There’s a near screwball element to the rapidity with which people talk, and all the actors’ passion for the material is evident.

Armie Hammer gives an award-worthy performance as Ruth’s equal half, Martin Ginsburg. If you watched the RBG documentary from this year you’ll already know the Ginsburgs are relationship goals with Martin Ginsburg working alongside his wife, both personally and professionally, in a mutually loving marriage that lasted till his death. Hammer, who already proved his chops in Call Me By Your Name last year, gives us a performance that’s empathetic, sensitive, and romantic. His Marty supports his wife 100 percent.

(l to r.) Armie Hammer as Marty Ginsburg and Felicity Jones as Ruth Bader Ginsburg star in Mimi Leder’s ON THE BASIS OF SEX, a Focus Features release.

She can’t cook, so he takes up cooking. Ruth tells him his demeanor around his male colleagues is subconsciously demeaning to her and he stands up to his boss on her behalf. Hammer knows when to take the back seat and every scene is in support of a character Marty Ginsburg was head over heels for. At no time watching this do you doubt the love these two have for each other, with Jones and Hammer leaving you swooning and cheering. If the Academy was smart they’d give him a Supporting Actor nod.

Leder’s previous work on the likes of Deep Impact and HBO’s The Leftover has shown her flair for working with ensemble casts. Positioned alongside Jones and Hammer is a strong cadre of side characters who flesh out Bader Ginsburg’s world. Justin Theroux’s ACLU head Mel Wulf is the film’s antihero, working against RBG for fear she’ll lose the case and acting as her biggest challenger to spur her into thinking of things the prosecutors will. The aforementioned Cailee Spaeny as Jane Ginsburg complements Jones, laying out second-wave feminism for the audience without belaboring the complex issues that were at play in 1970. Spaeny is no-nonsense. She never acts resentful of her mother, but trying to please her and finding common ground. Waterston, Stephen Root, and Jack Reynor play various men working against RBG and their general blandness is indicative of what the film wants to get at, which is focusing on the truly unique characters.

The film soars because its director and script trust the audience to understand the stakes and appreciate the fire that continues to burn in the belly of the real Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Watching her life play out in this biopic only urges audiences to learn more about the countless other things that were happening in Ginsburg’s life, before and after this.

On the Basis of Sex is a tour-de-force. Mimi Leder, Armie Hammer, and Felicity Jones need to hit the circuit hard. The Academy needs to get on this film and save 2018 from being the horrid year it’s been.