Greetings friends and family! I hope you're enjoying this nicely updated blog much as I am. If you're not don't tell me, I have a precious ego. Today I will be reviewing the film, On the Basis of Sex, the story about how Ruth Bader Ginsburg came to be the woman and Supreme Court judge we all know today. I don't know what else to say so to stop the awkwardness... LET'S BEGIN.
PLOT:
This film tells the story about the early days in Ruth Bader Ginsburg's life of how she became a lawyer and later a Supreme Court justice. The film starts in the 50s where Ruth (Felicity Jones) is a first year Harvard law student. She is married to Martin (Armie Hammer), also a law student. Ruth is only one of nine female law students at Harvard that year. The profession is predominately male and they often look down on women who want to join the workforce. Everything is going relatively well for Ruth given the circumstances until Martin is diagnosed with cancer. Never one to quit, however, Ruth continues her studies while also taking Martin's classes for him and caring for her family.
A couple of years later they have moved to New York where Martin has gotten a job at a law office. Ruth is also looking for work but all of the places she has applied are not hiring women. So she then becomes a professor where she teaches on "The Law and Sex Discrimination". In 1970 Martin brings a case to Ruth where a man is being discriminated against based on his gender. Ruth uses this as a way to fight sex discrimination and show that it can go both ways, towards women and men. This film tells the story about this specific case and the fight she must go through to get equal rights for men and women. This film shows her accomplishments and victories along with her hardships and losses.
REVIEW:
I actually really enjoyed this film. I was slightly nervous about seeing this one because I don't know a lot about Ruth Bader Ginsburg. I found her story and history to be very fascinating and I thought this film did a great job of telling that story. Some other biopics can be too factual as in there isn't really a narrative to go along with the history, it's just the events of that person's life. This film has a nice balance between the two. It has a compelling story but still manages to give all the facts about this particular person or event. I also found the subject to be quite fascinating because you have a woman in a male-dominated profession trying to get equal rights for both men and women. This is still a problem in today's society and it was interesting to see how she put the plan forward and got the ball rolling.
The cast and performances were great in this film. Felicity Jones is a force of nature. The first film I saw her in was The Theory of Everything where she just blew me away and I instantly began to watch the rest of her filmography. It also doesn't hurt that she's Jyn Erso, one of the best characters in the Star Wars universe. She was probably the biggest draw for me to see this film because I know how great she can be and she did not disappoint. I'm sure it's daunting to play a real person especially if that person is still alive, but Felicity did such a great job in this role. As I said before I don't know much about Justice Ginsburg but I feel like Felicity really captured her and how she would have felt during this time in her life. She's such a strong character and no matter how much she gets knocked down, she always manages to get right back up with her head held high when most of us would have given up. Felicity really captured this but she also captured the vulnerable moments of her not knowing what the future will bring, if she'll make a difference. We're rooting for her the whole movie even though most of us already know the outcome.
Overall I though this movie was really great and I will definitely be watching it again. Everyone was in the cast was great from Armie Hammer to Sam Waterston. There was not a weak player. I thought this story was very fascinating and I really enjoyed learning about this little piece of history that has made a huge impact in today's world. Even if you're not a huge fan of this type of movie or subject matter I would still recommend this film because it has a great story and characters.
PARENT'S GUIDE:
This film is rated PG-13. There is some language but not much. Overall I think this film is pretty clean.
OVERALL RATING:
For this film I will give it a...
On the Basis of Sex: 8/10
I thoroughly enjoyed this film and I thought they made the story very interesting when it could have been quite dull. I loved Felicity's performance and really thought she carried the film.
CONCLUSION:
Well there you have it! I hope you enjoyed this post! Please leave me a comment or suggestion and go like my Facebook page if you haven't yet. The more traction I can get, the better. Please tell your friends! Thanks for visiting like always! Until next time!
