With the glossy sheen of a prestige picture, the crowd-pleasing "On the Basis of Sex" focuses on the early achievements in Ginsburg's career. Almost immediately, she faces discrimination in the male-dominated culture of the school. At a dinner party hosted by the dean Sam Waterston , she, along with the eight other women who've entered into the program, is publicly asked by their host to justify her decision to take an academic seat away from a potential male student. It's tough going, but nonetheless Ginsburg persists. Following the expected biopic beats of our protagonist gamely overcoming adversity, watching Ruth make her way through law school is definitely the least interesting part of the film. But as we gradually move into the s, it focuses on the dynamics of Ruth's relationship with her tax attorney husband, Marty Armie Hammer.