From director Mimi Ledger comes the riveting story of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. This biopic, starring Felicity Jones and Armie Hammer, tells the story of Ginsburg’s struggles, battles, and victories against sexism in and out of the courtroom. Despite the somewhat cookie-cutter script, both Jones and Hammer give exceptional performances that live up to the lives of their characters. The film also stars Justin Theroux, Kathy Bates, Sam Waterston, and Cailee Spaeny.
The film begins with Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Jones) starting her studies at Harvard Law School. She is one of nine women in her class of 500 students, but she is not afraid. Meanwhile, outside of school, she and her husband, Martin Ginsburg (Hammer), live a life together with their daughter, Jane (Spaeny). As the film continues, despite some heavy personal setbacks, Ginsburg repeatedly snatches her victories out of the hands of those who do not think she deserves them. She even has to face the scrutiny of the Dean of Students, Erwin Griswold (Waterston), who asks all the women to “go around the table and report who you are, and why you’re occupying a space that could’ve gone to a man,” to which Ginsburg retorts, “My husband’s in the second year class… [I’m here] to learn more about his work! So I can be a more patient and understanding wife.” Some of my favorite moments in this movie were instances like these — not necessarily huge statements, but moments when Ginsburg stood up for herself.
One of the secondary storylines in this film I really admired was the development of Ginsburg’s relationship with her daughter, Jane. They are two women growing up in two different times but with the shared struggles. Initially, there is a lot of friction between Ginsburg and Jane. Ginsburg is a stickler for fighting for change in a professional, legal manner, but Jane is all about protesting and activism. Over time, however, they learn from each other and both grow into smarter people because of it. I think it would’ve been really easy to diminish Ginsburg’s family in this film and focus solely on her career, but I think the creators of this film made an excellent choice in keeping in Ginsburg’s husband and children as a focal point in this movie. It would have been a grave mistake to assume that Ginsburg did not think her family was important enough to be a part of her life. It’s also a great testament of how women shouldn’t have to choose between a family or a career, and that they are capable of having both without either being diminished.
All that said, the script was a bit boring. Some of the lines were pretty cliche, and it often felt like this movie was playing it safe. Even though I feel as if the script didn’t completely wow me like Jones and Hammer’s performances, when I think about the time that this film was supposed to take place, I realize how revolutionary Ginsburg’s arguments were. I’m sure if you played this film 60 years ago, the script would be anything but cookie-cutter. I feel incredibly privileged to be able to watch this film and admire how far we’ve come since Ginsburg started her career.
All in all, this is a great film to watch if you care about Ruth Bader Ginsburg, legal history, women’s rights, or even just civil rights in general. You might not get what you’re looking for if you want some hearty surface entertainment, but you will get several inspiring performances in a triumphant tale.
Score: 4.5/5