Below are three worthy movies that highlight aspects of past Supreme Court cases and/or its Justices. The first, Lilly, is in limited theater release currently. The other two, On the Basis of Sex and Marshall, are available to stream.
I. Lilly
Tagline: One fearless voice is all it takes.
Lilly, starring Patricia Clarkson as the titular character and John Benjamin Hickey as her husband, packs a punch anyone interested in the ongoing fight for equal rights for women will appreciate.
It’s based on the true story of Lilly Ledbetter (1938-2024), who “…made headlines in 2007 when she sued her employer, Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, for gender discrimination, resulting in a Supreme Court case and, eventually, the passage of the Fair Pay Act” (Beatrice Loayza, New York Times).
While critics like Loayza haven’t been too fond of the film, often not appreciating the sprinkled use of such archival footage as Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (RBG) (1933-2020) commenting briefly on the issue, many of us who’ve seen it have found the film powerfully moving and the news snippets satisfyingly evocative of ideals too rarely reflected these days in real life.
The trailer:
An example of the score is the following original song by country artist Cassidy Daniels, “We Will Not Take It Anymore.”
II. On the Basis of Sex (2018)
RBG is the story here, with Felicity Jones the lead. States Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: “On the Basis of Sex” makes you feel the cost it took to build this life, the years and years of work, in the face of almost monolithic resistance. Interestingly, and this feels intrinsically true, the movie shows that the obstacles Ginsburg faced often came from her closest male allies, who, after all, were steeped in the very same culture as her political foes. Ginsburg was at a disadvantage with these men, not only because she was a woman, but also because she was mild of temperament, not someone who could easily put herself forward. However, she did have the most significant advantage in her favor: She was smarter than everybody else.”
Like the Lilly teaser, the trailer below, bolstered at the start with the female-sung lyric This is a man’s world, introduces the theme of women being up against the power of men.
“Even before the finish, it’s goosebumps all around,” concludes LaSalle.
III. Marshall (2017)
Marshall is attorney Thurgood Marshall (1908-1993), played by Chadwick Boseman (1976-2020). As the trailer below states, “Before he became the first African-American Supreme Court Justice” he “was just a man with a mission.”
Charged with sexual assault and attempted murder, a black man (Sterling K. Brown) is defended in 1941 by young Marshall along with Samuel Friedman (Josh Gad). They’re up against both anti-Semitism and racism within the court system and society.
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times, quotes the voice we hear of the actual Marshall at the end of the movie: “‘There are movements by the different branches of this government that are set to push back,’ he says, uncannily prophetic. ‘Only now it’s being done, you know, cleverly.'”
The soundtrack features the hit “Stand Up for Something,” by Andra Day and Common.
