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.

It's nice that a legend gets to see her life portrayed on screen while she is still having a pulse. I kept thinking of Thurgood Marshall also as an advocate for racial equality and his portrayal by Chadwick Boseman in the film Marshall. Both On The Basis Of Sex and Marshall take a couple of people who would serve on the Supreme Court and tell of cases in their years as advocates. On The Basis Of Sex does Ruth Bader Ginsburg justice.

As the movie shows it wasn't always easy. After attending Harvard Law School after undergraduating at Cornell, Ruth Bader married Martin Ginsburg who was a year ahead of her. When Martin gets a job in New York City, she goes to her law school dean Erwin Griswold a pillar of the legal establishment played here by Sam Waterston. Progressive in many ways Griswold did in fact get the first women admitted to Harvard Law. But he did believe women ought to know their place at home and in the courtroom. Jack McCoy, Waterston is not in this film.

Simply because of her sex she could not get a slew of jobs that husband Martin would have gotten easily. She had her own dometic crisis as well when Martin played by Armie Hammer came down with cancer. She was thrust into the role of breadwinner as well as homemaker. And the bread at times was only crumbs.

With that kind of attitude and disdain shown her Ginzburg says this has to all change and that women have to achieve real equality. Oddly enough it's the case of a man played by Chris Mulkey who was denied an income tax deduction for hiring a home attendant for his mother and was forced to stay home and tend to her. Mulkey is a bachelor and he did not want mom going to some substandard nursing home. On the basis of a man challenging gender roles Ginzburg made her first mark.

Felicity Jones of Great Britain played Ruth Bader Ginzburg a girl from Brooklyn. Not only Brooklyn, but my part of Brooklyn as I read she attended James Madison High School which was two blocks from where I lived. Nice Jewish girls from Brooklyn make their mark whether its Barbra Streisand in music or Ruth Bader Ginzburg in the law. There's such passion in her performance I can't believe that Jones will be ignored in the Oscar sweepstakes..

Another who should not be ignored is Cailee Spaeny the young actress who plays daughter Jane Ginzburg. At first glance she looks like your average teen girl of the times. But this young lady has read Gloria Steinem and believes in direct action far more than Mom does. Her scene with Mom with those construction workers is a classic. Hope Spaeny gets some recognition in the Supporting Actress category, she really nails it in her role.

Good gray Sam Waterston as pillar of the legal establishment was one kind of foe. But there is the climax scene at the 10th Circuit Federal Court of Appeals an actor Jack Raynor shows how deeply sinister opposition to change could be. One thing the New Right has always been good at is recognizing threats to its perceived view of society. Recently one of their religious right legal organizations lobbied against including LGBTQ people in anti-lynching bill in Congress. They reasoned that if you simply made it wrong to kill people on the basis of their sexual orientation and gender identity they might actually ask society to treat them with dignity and respect, legally, economically, and socially.

Raynor with that smug arrogance that the religious right has says that the foundations of society as they see it will be torn asunder if Ginzburg's client wins this case. Felicity Jones who has been told to stick to facts and precedents and keep her passion in check gets up and just demolishes Raynor. With passion in check, Jones impresses those Appellate Judges with the facts but the restrained passion is there. She sure impressed me.

Hope they'll be some Oscar consideration for Jones, for Hammer and for Spaeny. Most of all in that field of 10 for On The Basis Of Sex.

ON THE BASIS OF SEX is a well-shot character study of one of the most important and influential women working in America's legal system, directed by Mimi Leder (who once handled DEEP IMPACT back in the day). Felicity Jones gives an able performance as the Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the woman who shook up sexism in America, and the film paints a picture of a time in which things were very different for women (or were they?). It's well made and well acted, slightly superficial at times, although the likes of Kathy Bates add heart. The courtroom climax is a master of understatement, and the whole film does a good job of detailing assumption and what's thought instead of said.