Nell Minow started her review by saying, “The
university’s victory song extols the triumph of the Harvard men, as a sea of
dark suits and wingtip shoes walk up the law school's steps. There is one
turquoise dress, one pair of stockings with seams down the back.” It was only
the sixth year since women were admitted to Harvard Law School and there were
just nine women in the class. At a “welcoming” dinner, Dean Erwin Griswold,
played by Sam Waterston, asks each of them to explain why she was taking a space
that could have gone to a man. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, played by Felicity Jones,
explains that her husband is in the second-year class and studying the law will
help her “be a more patient and understanding wife.”
Was she saying that because she thought that was what
he wanted to hear? This movie, written with high love by Justice Ginsburg’s
nephew, Daniel Stiepleman, does not tell us. What it does tell us is that she
would be understanding, at least some of the time, but never really patient.
Minow said, “Before she was known for her feisty dissents, power work-outs, and
“Gins-burns” portrayal on "Saturday Night Live" by Kate McKinnon,
Ruth Bader Ginsburg was the pioneer litigator who argued cases that were as
important to women’s rights as Brown v. Board of Education was to the rights of
racial minorities.” And she would have two more encounters with Dean Griswold,
each less patient than the one before.
Minow noted, ““RBG,” the well-crafted documentary
released earlier this year, capably covers Justice Ginsburg’s life from
schoolgirl to the Supreme Court.” Smartly, the film focuses on just two key
elements: her wonderfully supportive marriage to the late tax attorney, Martin
Ginsburg, played by Armie Hammer, and the one case they argued together, a
landmark in outlawing discrimination “on the basis of sex.”
They were still in law school and the parents of a toddler
when Martin Ginsburg was diagnosed with cancer. Ruth attended all of his classes
along with her own and helped him to complete his coursework. Minow said, “She
met with Dean Griswold to ask if he would allow her the same opportunity he had
given male students to finish her last year elsewhere and still get a Harvard
degree, making what in my law school days we would call a model argument based
on precedent, logic, and the Socratic method.” He refused, and she graduated
from Columbia, first in her class. Now law firm would hire her. She threw her
dreams of advocacy away and taught law students instead. “You’ll teach the next
generation how to fight for change,” the ever-optimistic Martin tells her. This
is not one of the times she is patient, telling him, “I wanted to be the one
fighting for change!”
Then, he finds a case – a tax case – that gives her
that chance. The tax law would not allow a deduction for the expenses of an
unmarried male caregiver, only a female. She sees that the best way to overturn
laws that disadvantage women is to take on one that disadvantages men. It was
probably just an error. The writers of the tax code failed to consider that an
unmarried male might have the care of an elderly parent. However, Charles Moritz,
played by Chris Mulkey, did, and the government, under the direction of Dean
Griswold, now at the Justice Department, made three very big mistakes. Instead
of modifying the rule, they decided to fight. They underestimated Ruth Bader
Ginsburg.
Jones and Hammer make a believable couple, and they get
strong support from the more imaginative characters, like Kathy Bates as original
feminist attorney Dorothy Kenyon and Justin Theroux as Mel Wulf, legal director
of the ACLU (and Justice Ginsburg’s former campmate, as we see in a nice
musical number). Director Mimi Leder has a talent for telling detail and a
great sense of pacing, especially in the scenes with the Ginsburg’s teenage
daughter Jane, played by Cailee Spaeny, whose own spirited feminism shows her
mother that it is time for the law to catch up with the culture.
Minow noted, “Stiepleman’s affection for his aunt and
license as an insider are palpable as he gently, perhaps too gently, teases her
seriousness of purpose, her discipline, and her legendarily awful cooking.” In one
scene, Martin steals some leftovers from the baby’s high chair tray rather than
eat his wife’s tuna-onion casserole. (He later switched over to cooking all the
family’s meals, and Hammer shows off some Great British Baking Show-worthy
knife skills.) Ginsburg’s determination never hesitates, but it is emotional to
witness her growing realization that the world is catching up to her vision,
and is ready for her voice.
This is a very good movie. Justice Ginsburg does make
a cameo appearance at the end of the movie walking up the steps of the Supreme
Court building. In honor of her memory, you should definitely see this movie to
see what she fought for and how far she went in her career. She really stood
for the people and I really respect her career. It is sad that she is no longer
with us, but her work does live on and people will be reviewing it for years to
come. You should not miss out on seeing this movie because you will love it, I
promise.
Hope everyone enjoyed this review and have a great
Independence Day. Enjoy the fireworks tonight and I will see everyone this
Friday for what I will review this month.
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