On the Basis of Sex

On the Basis of Sex is a 2018 American biographical legal drama film based on the life and early cases of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who was the second woman to serve as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Directed by Mimi Leder and written by Daniel Stiepleman (Ginsburg's real-life nephew), it stars Felicity Jones as Ginsburg. Armie Hammer, Justin Theroux, Jack Reynor, Cailee Spaeny, Sam Waterston, and Kathy Bates feature in supporting roles. The film had its world premiere at the AFI Fest on November 8, 2018, and was theatrically released in the United States on December 25, 2018, by Focus Features. On the Basis of Sex received generally favorable reviews from critics, who praised Jones' performance, the film's intricacy and its pacing at a dramatic level. Other critics felt the biopic was predictable, over-packaged and hagiographic. Made on a $20 million budget, On the Basis of Sex grossed $38.8 million at the box office. Plot In 1956, Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a first-year student at Harvard Law School, when her husband Martin Ginsburg, a second-year student, is diagnosed with testicular cancer. She attends both her classes and his, taking notes and transcribing lectures while caring for Martin and their infant daughter Jane. Two years later, Martin's cancer is in remission and he is hired by a firm in New York City. Ruth petitions Harvard Law School Dean Griswold to allow her to complete her Harvard law degree with classes at Columbia Law School in New York, but he insists on following Harvard University policies at the time and denies her request, so she transfers to Columbia. In spite of graduating at the top of her class, she is unable to find a position with a law firm because none of the firms she applies to want to hire a woman. She takes a job as a professor at Rutgers Law School, teaching "Sex Discrimination and the Law".