On the Basis of Sex

2018

Action / Biography / Drama / History

76
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 76% · 269 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 76% · 1K ratings
IMDb Rating 7.1/10 10 41923 41.9K

based on a true story 1970s biography based on true story supreme court lawyer

Plot summary

Young lawyer Ruth Bader Ginsburg teams with her husband Marty to bring a groundbreaking case before the U.S. Court of Appeals and overturn a century of sex discrimination.

Director

Mimi Leder Photo
Mimi Leder

Top cast

Cailee Spaeny Photo
Cailee Spaeny as Jane Ginsburg
John Ralston Photo
John Ralston as Tom Miller
Kathy Bates Photo
Kathy Bates as Dorothy Kenyon
Wendy Crewson Photo
Wendy Crewson as Harriet Griswold
720p.BluRay 720p.WEB 1080p.BluRay 1080p.WEB
1 GB
1280*682
English 2.0
NR
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23.976 fps
2 hr 0 min
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1020.33 MB
1280*688
English 2.0
NR
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23.976 fps
2 hr 0 min
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1.92 GB
1920*1024
English 2.0
NR
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23.976 fps
2 hr 0 min
Seeds 16
1.92 GB
1904*1024
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
2 hr 0 min
Seeds 10

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by lucas_mrz 7 / 10

This is good.

Most bad critics about this movie (which led me to postpone it too long) are based on a confusion. This is not a biopic about R.B.G. This is a movie about her early years in law school and her first case. It's meant to show the kind of woman she was and her struggle for equality. That's it. If you want a bio, go watch a documentary, or even better, go read a bookNow, I don't know much about RGB (I'm not from the U.S.) so I can't speak to the historical accuracy of the movie.But from an entertainment point of view, I quite liked it. Felicity Jones delivers a good performance (and I'm not much of a fan of her), as does the rest of the cast. I didn't find anything "terrible" about the script either.I would totally recommend it. It may not be a complete biography, but it draws attention to RGB, and it will probably lead more than one to search for more about her.
Reviewed by lavatch 8 / 10

"Reason is the Soul of Law"

In the bonus track of the DVD of "On the Basis of Sex," it is revealed that the nephew of Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote the screenplay for this film biography. One of the strengths of the film is the very intelligent script that finds a way to make potentially dry legal cases and legal jargon intelligible and dramatic.It was mentioned as well in the extras track that the film sought to depict "one of the greatest love stories of all time." While this statement may have been an exaggeration based on all the time that Marty and Ruth Ginsburg devoted to their careers rather than the enterprise of love, the film was successful in blending biography with an influential legal case that argued discrimination on the basis of sex to be unconstitutional.Armie Hammer performs role of the litigator husband Marty, who is assigned the role traditionally given to long-suffering housewives. Marty cares for the children while Ruth spends long days teaching at Rutgers, where her classes are filled with young, intelligent women with a token male student. In the kitchen, Marty wields a knife like a surgeon as he dutifully chops vegetables while Ruth prepares to take revenge on her sexist male professors from law school.The film is worth viewing as a civics lesson. As a liberal attorney and later Supreme Court Justice, Ginsburg is a perfect illustration of how the powerful courts engage in "legislating from the bench," as opposed to strict interpretation of the Constitution. In Ginsburg's argument before Denver's Tenth Circuit Court, the result was a change related to tax law that had ramifications for universal revision of gender equality in the marketplace.The phenomenon of the court flexing its muscles demonstrates how our separation of powers work, especially when Congress is foot-dragging in failing to change the law to suit the times, as apparent in this film in gender discrimination. The epigram of "Reason is the soul of law" appeared in the courtroom of the Denver Circuit Court, demonstrating that a persuasive legal argument may cause the powerful judges to rethink the application of individual laws.The film was crisply directed primarily on location in Montreal. The costumes were effective in evoking the timeframe of the film primarily from the 1950s through the '70s. Felicity Jones was outstanding in the role of Ginsburg. Although her Brooklyn accent wasn't always consistent, she nonetheless captured the poise and determination of Ruth Bader "Kiki" Ginsburg. The relationship between Kiki and her feisty daughter Jane was especially well performed.From start to finish, Jones delivers a moving performance of the little fireball Kiki Ginsburg. First in her class at Harvard and Columbia law schools, Ginsburg is a demonstration of how one person can truly make a difference in the world. This is a film to be watched and enjoyed by the entire family.
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