Hellmant
'RBG': Four Stars (Out of Five)A documentary about U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The film was directed and produced by Betsy West and Julie Cohen. It's received nearly unanimous rave reviews from critics, and it's also a modest hit at the Box Office as well. I enjoyed it, and I also found it to be both educational and inspiring. The film is an examination of the life and career of Ruth Bader Ginsburg (also known as the notorious RBG). The documentary goes all the way back to her birth in Brooklyn, and it stays with her up till the movie's release in 2018. The film studies her multiple decade run as a U.S. Supreme Court Justice, and it also examines her massive pop culture appeal too. Many others that Ginsburg has known, and worked with, are also interviewed in the movie as well. The film is definitely educational, for those who don't know much about the popular Supreme Court Justice. It's also very inspiring, to see someone so dedicated, and relentlessly committed to making the world a better place (Ruth of course fought for women's rights primarily). I found the film to be both motivational and inspiring. I also didn't know that much about her, prior to seeing the movie, so it was very informative for me as well.
Dave McClain
"RBG" (PG, 1:38) is a documentary about the life of U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. It is directed by documentary film producers Julie Cohen ("American Veteran") and Betsy West ("The Lavender Scare"). The film was released in U.S. theaters on May 4, 2018, after making the festival circuit in the first few months of the year during which it won a couple Best Documentary prizes.The film traces Ginsburg's life from her childhood in Brooklyn, New York through her years struggling to be taken seriously as a young female law student and practicing attorney (but racking up impressive accomplishments nonetheless) and through her tenure on the highest court in the land and improbable emergence as a pop culture icon. The storyline is basically linear, but includes frequent jumps backward, forward and even sideways as it examines different aspects of her life, personality and public image.Along the way, there's a good mix of historical photos, videos, audio clips and graphics, but the main driving force is the well-edited interviews. We hear from Ginsburg's children, her childhood friends, colleagues, admirers and even a few detractors, as well as fellow feminist hero Gloria Steinem, former President Bill Clinton and, of course, Ginsburg herself - at various public appearances, with her personal trainer and sitting down to discuss her life, even reacting to Kate McKinnon's portrayals of her on SNL."RBG" is a fascinating and fun documentary. It's unclear how much credit goes to the compelling subject matter vs. the skill of her documentarians, but Cohen and West do keep things moving and paint a well-balanced picture while keeping the audience's interest. Some will find it as difficult to separate their feelings about Ginsburg as a jurist from how they feel about her politics as the filmmakers probably had making their film relatively apolitical, but they did it. They manage to tell Ginsburg's story - and make clear what she believes in (even including a little bit of controversy) - while keeping the focus mainly on Ginsburg as a person and on this strong film as an interesting and entertaining historical document. "A-"
