On the Basis of Sex - 3 smiles

"On the Basis of Sex" is an adequate bio-pic focused on the early life and courtroom baptism of now Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. And while interesting, it's not as good as the recent documentary RBG. The film is essentially divided into two sections. The first focuses on the 1950s and early 1960s when Ruth (Felicity Jones) becomes one of the first women enrolled in Harvard Law School. Her husband, Martin (Armie Hammer), who is a year ahead of her at the same school, provides moral support until testicular cancer forces him to rely on her. She faces institutional sexism at Harvard, the most egregious of which comes from Dean Erwin Griswold (Sam Waterson), a staunch conservative. Eventually, after switching to Columbia to allow Martin to begin practicing at a prestigious New York law firm, she graduates and, despite excellent grades, finds no law firms will hire her. She accepts a professorship at Rutgers, where she remains for the next ten years. The second half of the movie earns its title as Ruth joins with her husband to represent Charles Moritz (Chris Mulkey) in a suit against the IRS. Central to Ruth's argument on Moritz's behalf is that the US tax code is unconstitutional - offering provisions that are unequal to men and women. With the reluctant support of ACLU lawyer Mel Wulf (Justin Theroux), Ruth and Martin reject a settlement and present their case in front of the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. This becomes Ruth's opportunity and it launches her career as a staunch advocate for gender equity.

When the movie gets to scenes related to the Moritz case, everything sparks with energy, but getting here is a slog. The early sequences and domestic interactions are fairly generic and cliched and Ginsburg's conversations with her high school-aged daughter, Jane (Cailee Spaeny), seem too contrived. Felicity Jones' performance is solid while Armie Hammers role as her husband walks a line close to sainthood, but that's probably the fault of a script that gives him little to do other than support his wife. "On the Basis of Sex" creates the shameful truth of where the country was a half-century ago and the importance of Ginsburg in a legal shift that continues to this day.