This legal drama proves that even though a tax case may be
destined to serve as a landmark for equal treatment under the law — as well as
a breakthrough for future Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Felicity
Jones) — in the absence of compelling dialogue or performances, it’s nearly
impossible to keep stodginess at bay. Director Mimi Leder and screenwriter
Daniel Stiepleman (Ginsburg’s nephew) have ameliorated the deficiencies
somewhat through discussions of legal morality — and Ginsburg’s record as a
wife and mother, nursing her husband (Armie Hammer) through a cancer scare,
attending his law school classes as well as her own and later raising a son and
a daughter, is undeniably impressive. But the film is an unapologetically
heroic narrative that lacks only a college fight song to pump up emotion at its
conclusion. Possibly acceptable for mature adolescents, though they’re likely
to regard this profile more as a homework assignment than a piece of
entertainment.
Watch out for: A scene of
marital sensuality, at least one use of profanity, a couple of milder oaths, a
single rough and several crude terms.
Rated: A-III, adults; MPA:
PG-13
© Arlington Catholic Herald 2019