It’s ordinary people, not superheroes, who bring justice and change in the real world. In “Lilly,” writer-director Rachel Feldman follows the era-defining work of one of these everyday women: pioneer Lilly Ledbetter, a trailblazer from humble beginnings who sued her employer, Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, on the basis of gender. Pay discrimination. But while Ledbetter’s contributions to the fight for equal pay have been immortalized through the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 (which essentially states that every unfair pay starts a new cycle of discrimination), her legacy unfortunately doesn’t get the polished, sophisticated treatment that it does. He deserves to be in “Lily,” a confusing movie that can’t decide what it wants to be.
The unfortunate inelegance of Feldman’s film announces itself from the beginning, as the film struggles to establish its tone as a narrative feature that leans too heavily into documentary footage. We witness Ledbetter, coyly played by Patricia Clarkson, take the stage at the 2008 Democratic Convention just before President Obama is elected. Amid close-ups of Clarkson as Ledbetter, Feldman interspersed the speech with actual footage from the convention, showing the likes of Joe Biden enthusiastically applauding her remarks. In theory (and perhaps in the hands of more intentional editors), this hybrid approach could yield interesting results. But in “Lily,” the film plays out clumsily, suggesting that what comes next is not a film but a series of re-enactment clips backed by superior archival footage from recent history.
While “Lilly” isn’t quite that, it comes dangerously close to it, especially during a grueling first half that hastily traces Ledbetter’s career at Goodyear between 1979 and the late 1990s, as she strives to climb the corporate ladder in a painfully male role. – Controlling environment. Despite the constant harassment — and sometimes physical abuse — that she and other female workers routinely endure, Leadbetter puts herself on the map in the company’s management program (she was the first woman to do so at the time), committing to the company with nearly two decades of hard work. And the wonderful. But even when the needle moves a little for her with some of the well-earned promotions she receives over the years, Ledbetter somehow always finds herself demoted to the factory floor, and increasingly notices that men who don’t put in the same amount of work at Same job job level Enjoy rewarding promotions.
This path, informed by Ledbetter’s inspiring love story with her supportive husband Charles (John Benjamin Hickey), is both cinematic in its own right, and easy enough to follow and root for. But Feldman somehow insists on weaving archival material into such foolproof material, with frequent cuts to the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Ledbetter’s greatest judicial advocate, when she decided to bring her employer to justice. This makes for an increasingly frustrating viewing experience, one that cumulatively communicates that Feldman and co-writer Adam Prince have no faith in the audience’s ability to understand the complexities of Ledbetter’s immediate case.
In it, Lily gains nothing as Leadbetter emerges through her struggle to balance work/life, with those scenes immediately followed by RBG explaining what this dynamic might mean for women. The worst such boycott occurs after Ledbetter aims to uncover concrete evidence proving that Goodyear has been discriminating against it since day one. Eventually (shortly before she was wrongfully fired from her job), she found a mysterious note in her closet explaining how she earned nearly half what her male counterparts earned. Not long after, the film cuts to an interview with RBG, talking about the same anonymous note that Leadbeater discovered.
Elsewhere, the film’s flashback-filled moments before are presented in muted, inexplicably ugly colors — a strange creative decision that says nothing thematically. Leadbeater’s struggles with her reckless son, as well as her triumphs as an accomplished dancer outside of work, also get lukewarm treatment. As for the latter, she is often shown twirling on the dance floor in scenes that show no trace of professional choreography.
Fortunately, Lily finds her own (if only briefly) when Leadbetter finally files a lawsuit against Goodyear, along with her fierce lawyer John Goldfarb (Thomas Sadoski). The moments in which she initially wins her case, but loses the longer game in the House and Supreme Court (despite RBG’s dissent) are engaging, though mostly for their informational nature and despite some overtly expository dialogue and superfluous country music riffs . Explain the themes of the film.
In the end, Ledbetter never received her settlement from Goodyear, but she did redefine what equal pay for truly equal work should mean, late in the 21st century. There’s an undeniably realistic film in this fact that could capture the spirit of Leadbeater’s contributions to American society as a middle-class worker, or a stirring narrative portrait (based on “On the Basis of Sex”) with some big-hearted people. Dynamic. Unfortunately, Lily deprives us of the fun.