Movie Review: 'RBG' offers a softer, less "notorious" side of noted SCOTUS justice

Family time between Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and her granddaughter in a scene from 'RBG.' 

Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures

RBG (2018, directed by Betsy West and Julie Cohen. USA, English, Color, 97 minutes) I had only seen Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg once in person. It was during a session of the Supreme Court in May 2017 and I was gitty sitting from the press box anticipating her entrance from the black curtains all of the justices appear from to take their seats for the day's events. I eventually saw her from her seat a good 50 feet away. She wouldn't have known me from a can of paint, but knowing I was in her presence was just as exciting as fans who get to see her speak during official visits to universities and other institutions. 

United States Supreme Court justices are not thought of as celebrities. Hell, not even a majority of people even remember that the Supreme Court is part of the judicial branch of the federal government, or even know some of its basic functions in rendering decisions. I'm sure the Supreme Court comes off to many as an institution that appears to work like the wizard behind the curtain, an unknown identity whose main job is to divide the country on topics like abortion, naming a president and ruling on same-sex marriage. Obviously, the scope of their work goes beyond these socially volatile areas, but how many know that?

And then comes along Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the 85-year-old Brooklynite who has been given "notorious" distinction, a nod to the rapper Notorious BIG, for her legal persona that demands social justice for all and who is not afraid to admit that drinking a little too much wine has caused her to fall asleep during the president's State of the Union addresses. She hasn't missed a day on the bench through two different bouts of cancer and the passing of her husband. Her candid reflections of those events prove she's the OG of the court. Ginsburg's the focus of many fan-based books, websites, clothing merchandise, tattoos and as a wild interpretation of being a party animal by Kate McKinnon on "Saturday Night Live." An official documentary on her life seemed inevitable.