On The Basis Of Sex

(M) ★★★½

Director: Mimi Leder.

Cast: Felicity Jones, Armie Hammer, Justin Theroux, Stephen Root, Kathy Bates, Sam Waterston, Cailee Spaeny, Callum Shoniker, Jack Reynor, Ronald Guttman, Chris Mulkey.

It's tempting to make a fart joke here, but I'm better than that.

The life of Supreme Court Justice and civil liberties lawyer Ruth Bader Ginsburg is certainly worthy of a film. While not the first woman to take on the male-dominated courtrooms of America, she was a trailblazer in helping to overturn laws that discriminated on the basis of sex.

Hence the title of this biopic, which explores a pivotal decade-or-so of Bader Ginsburg's life. It's an earnest effort to distil some of her influence and experience into two hours, buoyed by a strong latter half and solid performances from Jones and Hammer, but let down by a patchy start and an inability to be as groundbreaking as its subject.

Jones is The Notorious RBG (as she would come to be known, but don't expect any of that stuff here), who we meet as a first-year Harvard law student. Her husband Martin (Hammer) is a second-year student, and together they share the duties of raising their daughter Jane (Spaeny). But as a strong and intelligent woman in a man's world, Bader Ginsburg faces many obstacles as she strives to be a lawyer.

Finally Martin presents an opportunity to tear down some of those obstacles - a taxation case in which a man has been discriminated against... on the basis of sex. It's the chance to change the world that Ruth has been waiting for, but is she up to the challenge.

On The Basis Of Sex works best as a courtroom drama. When it gives Bader Ginsburg her big opportunity as a legal eagle, the film blossoms, and the seeds sown in the preceding hour of patchy storytelling start to bloom.

It's not that the first half is unwatchable - it's just that it meanders and feels secondary compared to the better latter half. It sets up the characters well, but it doesn't have the tension, urgency or drama of the big court case that dominates the final acts. The opening sections, while interesting and contextual, feel underdone and have all the hallmarks of a by-the-numbers biopic. And for a film about an incredibly intelligent woman, it has a few too many dumb lines in its first hour.

But it gets better. The courtroom scenes and lead-up sequences where the case is built focus the various ideas and personalities into a tighter, punchier piece of storytelling.

Jones does an excellent job in the lead role, aided by a script that thankfully paints her as far from flawless, particularly in some central moments regarding Bader Ginsburg's relationship with her daughter Jane. Hammer is also good, despite the script struggling to find extra dimensions to his character - Martin is portrayed as an exemplary man of his time, but little more, and some added depth might have elevated the opening portions of the film. Kathy Bates, Justin Theroux and the under-rated Stephen Root help ignite the much-needed spark in the second half.

On The Basis Of Sex isn't truly disappointing, like say, Mary Queen Of Scots, but you can't help but feel it could have been better. It comes home with a head full of steam, which makes its opening chapters suffer by comparison.

Overall it's a heartfelt and decent-enough portrayal of an important person, and it does a thankful and well-meaning job of paying tribute to her.