On the Basis of Sex

Felicity Jones shines as the star of this biopic about the early legal career of US Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, from her fiery days at Harvard and Columbia law schools to some pivotal cases she heard from the bench. Director Mimi Leder and writer Daniel Stiepleman create something of a hagiography, but it's a decent and well-told story that's jollied along by a light Mychael Danna score. Jones is pliable enough to play Ginsburg as the timespan stretches from the 1950s to the 70s, with Armie Hammer offering solid support as her husband. Ginsburg is told that "women are too emotional to be lawyers", but she works her way up to "ballbuster" (her defiant description) on a diet of weak men. Ginsburg died from pancreatic cancer in 2020, a true legal legend who left an unfillable gap, hailed still as "The Notorious RBG".