RBG (2018)

Doing unexpectedly well at the box office right now is RBG, a new documentary about octogenarian supreme court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Before viewing this movie I really didn't know all that much about her beyond the fact that she is Jewish, the 2nd female supreme court justice, and that I had a vague sense that I was generally for her. Though the documentary is presented in a straight forward, conventional, largely chronology manner, fitting of its being a CNN Films production, the movie transcends those confines because its subject is such a fascinating woman. She was on the Harvard Law review in the early 1950's (one of only nine women in her class of 500), while caring for a sick husband and raising a young daughter. She won 5 of the 6 cases she argued before the supreme court, all dealing with gender equality, and all argued in the 1970's. Today she is a charming, grandmotherly figure, one who has unexpected admires on the right, including Utah senator Orrin Hatch. An impressive and heartening figure in our depressing political times. I really enjoyed this movie.  ****