Directed by: Jeff Nichols
Starring: Joel Edgerton, Ruth Negga, Michael Shannon, Marton Csokas, Nick Kroll, Bill Camp
Loving is based on the true story of an interracial marriage between Richard Loving (Edgerton) and his black wife Mildred (Negga) whose arrest in Virginia for violating the state's miscegenation statutes led to the landmark Supreme Court decision deeming such laws unconstitutional. The story has almost inherent power that the film manages to miss. It concentrates so much on the saintly Lovings that it glosses over the legal maneuverings which led to the case being presented to the Supreme Court. Writer-director Jeff Nichols (Midnight Special) makes a conscious decision to avoid the courtroom drama and focus on the Lovings. I'm sorry, but the Lovings are presented as so saintly and even-tempered that they are boring. If you see one lovey-dovey stare across the room or field between Richard and Mildred, you see ten. If there is ever a movie that needs more courtroom, or drama, it is this one.
As the film opens, Mildred tells her boyfriend Richard, a mechanic and construction worker, that she is pregnant. Richard is happy and the two travel to Washington, DC to marry. Richard buys some land in which he plans to build a house for his family. Her family accepts Richard as one of their own and life is pretty good, until one night the sheriff barges into their home and arrests the couple for violating the state's laws against interracial marriage. It is amazing to think that not even 50 years ago, there were still anti-miscegenation laws on the books in many Southern states. The county sheriff (Csokas) is blatantly racist and has the law on his side, even if the law is unjust.
The Lovings plead guilty to violating the law and as part of their parole they must leave the state for 25 years. Lacking money to afford better legal representation and wanting to avoid prison, the Lovings move to Washington, DC and try their best to make a home there. The civil rights movement takes shape in the early 1960s and the Lovings see this as an opportunity to fight their conviction and move back to Virginia legally. An ACLU attorney (Kroll) helps them with their case, which faces several uphill legal battles.
The Lovings remain steadfast in their love and devotion to each other. But they don't seem to communicate much. Because Loving makes the conscious choice to focus on the couple rather than the controversy, shouldn't we see a few more scenes in which Richard and Mildred actually have more than a two-sentence conversation? We wonder why they are going through all of the trouble. I think if either Edgerton or Negga (or both) are nominated for Oscars, it will be difficult to select a clip to showcase the performances because neither seems to say more than one sentence at a time.
Edgerton and Negga still have a heavy load to bear, especially Edgerton, who plays a man who doesn't speak much but carries the burden of his situation physically. We see how much this weighs on him. Negga plays Midred as more of a catalyst in the legal proceedings. Both maintain quiet dignity in their performances. I just think it would not have been such a bad thing to let them communicate their feelings more. Most movies based on true stories are criticized for taking dramatic license. Loving should have taken such license.
So when the Lovings finally win their case with the Supreme Court in a unanimous 9-0 vote, we find we aren't moved really. The Lovings, and the movie, almost takes it in stride, as if we can thank the Supreme Court for allowing these two to forever stare at each other from across a room. There are talented people here who should have been given an opportunity to do more and say more. Instead, Loving feels like a missed opportunity to expound on a truly remarkable case in the history of civil rights.
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