On the Basis of Sex

A dry biographical drama - 5/10

by The Movie Inspector

A dry biographical drama, On The Basis Of Sex manages to clearly introduce its point but gets all mixed up within its story and loses track of the case at hand. It does a decent job with its argumentation, especially in the courtroom scenes but lacks the proper energy to create a rhythmic story.

When a movie tackles a social justice issue, it has to focus on the approach it resorts to in order to draw an audience and keep them invested, and unfortunately this movie couldn’t really do that. Decent performances from the cast helped make the movie watchable but couldn’t ultimately make it compelling. ‘On the Basis of Sex’ follows Ruth Ginsburg as she sets out to achieve gender equality in America and change the definition of a women’s role as stated by the law.

Ruth Ginsburg was a truly remarkable person and achieved a lot in her career. There’s no doubt that she was a shrewd attorney but unfortunately the movie uses this and constantly drags on the idea that they forget to let her character grow and highlight all the heart behind her passion. It also gets overly informative and really mixes up many different issues all in one case, that it kind of feels overwhelming and forced. What it needed to do was create a smooth flow with some more intriguing scenarios. 

Pacing is also an issue, and the beginning of her law career isn’t touched on enough in my opinion. One thing that the movie did well on is allowing its main idea of gender equality to unfold across the movie without ever making it feel too forced or fall into cliched representations of inequality. It’s safe to say that the movie was aiming for a different outcome but instead came out with a mediocre biopic that serves its purpose. It’s worth a shot for anyone interested in Mrs. Ginsburg‘ story, just bear in mind that the film as a  whole won’t wow you. 

 

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