On the Basis of Sex Movie Review | A Must watch for Law Student

On the Basis of Sex is one of the finest movies ever made on Law. This is a biopic of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. All the law students across the world, to some extent, know who is Ruth Bader Ginsburg. In this blog, we will discuss the movie On the Basis of Sex as well as various aspects of the law.

This movie was released in 2018. Mimi Leder directed this one. She is well-known for ‘Deep Impact’ and ‘The Peacemaker’, George Clooney and Nicole Kidman were in this one.

Felicity Jones portrayed as Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Arnie Hammer was as Martin Ginsburg who was Ruth’s husband. The visage or physiognomy of Felicity Jones completely matches Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The other cast were Justin Theroux, Sam Waterson, Kathy Bates, and others.

Currently On the Basis of Sex has 7.1/10 ratings with 33K votes on IMDB and 72% Tomatometer on Rotten Tomatoes.

On the Basis of Sex Plot

As we have already discussed it is a biographical movie. The movie is based on Ruth’s earlier life from 1959-1970. At first, it shows the then period of Harvard Law School and how sexist it was at that time. Only a few females were studying law at that time. Out of 561 students, only 9 were female. Ruth started her academic year in 1959 and her husband started in 1960. They both had a baby at that time.  The male students, as well as the professors were declined towards female students. Their behavior was completely hostile towards female students. The very first class shows it when the professor asked about Hawkins v McGee’s case summary. Even after raising her hand, the professor completely ignored Ruth. Even after all the odds and challenges, she stood first. One of the biggest challenges she had to face was her husband’s testicular cancer. She used to attend both her husband’s classes and used to take notes at the same time she was attending her own class too. After her husband got a job in New York, she had to move to Columbia Law School. She excelled there as well.

But the main problem came while she was searching for a job. She was rejected 12 times because of her gender. Even she was rejected because they already had a woman working for them.

This movie only focused on the gender discrimination part and Section 214 of Tax Codes. It was presented in a way both a law student as well as any layman will understand. The whole scenario in the courtroom was presented brilliantly. Every law student must watch On the Basis of Sex to get inspiration from Ruth.

Our rating is 8/10.

Read this Top 10 Law-Related Movies Every Law Students & Aspiring Lawyer Should Watch.