On the Basis of Sex (2018)

Jack, Deb, and I really liked this bio-pic of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's early years. With solid performances and wonderful wardrobe and sets, we really get the feel of the 50s, 60's, and 70s of the movie's stories.

Felicity Jones (last blogged for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) and Armie Hammar (most recently in Sorry to Bother You) give us the brilliant, loving couple Ruth and Martin, the latter a feminist before his time. As I frequently remind you, I usually keep a running list of nominations and wins. I like that this one is nominated for AARP's Best Grownup Love Story (as well as its Best Director). Martin and Ruth's love story is delightful. We should all be so lucky. Sam Waterston's (covered in Monkey Business) Dean Griswold, however, asks the first year female Harvard Law students why they deserve spots that should have gone to men (that's not a spoiler--it's in the trailer).

The large cast is supplemented by Justin Theroux (last blogged for The Spy Who Dumped Me) as Mel Wulf of the ACLU, Stephen Root (most recently in Get Out) as Professor Brown, and Cailee Spaeny (she was the little sister in Bad Times at the El Royale, though I failed to mention it) as Ruth and Martin's daughter Jane. Every time we saw the trailer we were sure that Kathy Bates (last blogged for Complete Unknown) would be playing Bella Abzug--pretty much because of the hat--but she doesn't, making an appearance in the second act or so.

Director Mimi Leder (lots of episodic TV including a few episodes of Shameless, Emmy nominations and wins for ER, and the movie Pay It Forward (2000)) keeps it moving, working from a script by the Ginsburgs' nephew Daniel Stiepleman in his screenwriting debut. I happened to read this New Yorker article shortly before seeing the movie and was glad I did. Martin's cookbook, mentioned in the article, is available at the Supreme Court Gift shop.

The wonderful wardrobe is thanks to Isis Mussenden (dressed, among others, The Blue Iguana (1998), Krippendorf's Tribe (1988), Albino Alligator (1996), The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005), and eleven episodes of Masters of Sex (2015-16), the last of which takes place in the same time frames as this movie).

As I write I'm streaming the soundtrack by Mychael Danna (most recently in these pages for scoring The Man Who Invented Christmas) and you can, too, on youtube, spotify, or Apple Music.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences aren't as enthusiastic as we are, averaging 71 and 72%, respectively. In these trying times, do see it.