Review of Loving (2016) by Jeff B — 19 Mar 2018

A historic true saga that amazingly never feels epic or anything like a history lesson, the appropriately titled Loving brilliantly paints a sprawling panorama with intimate brushstrokes and the audience is the better for it.

This PG-13-rated drama presents The story of Richard (Joel Edgerton) and Mildred Loving (Ruth Negga), a couple whose arrest for interracial marriage in 1960s Virginia began a legal battle that would end with the Supreme Court's historic 1967 decision. Truthfully, filmgoers don't even know that a cyclorama has been built around them in just over two hours until the end credits start to roll. The audience gets so caught up in the titular couple's tender romance in the segregated south that the landmark court decision that follows (Loving v. the Commonwealth of Virginia) somehow feels less important than their personal vindication. Rather than relegating the bullet points of their lives to actual headlines and news footage, a tired device that many filmmakers would have juxtaposed into the narrative, Loving begins with a very private moment between the couple that immediately makes all viewers sympathetic partners in this journey. Beautifully so, this intimate handling of their lives stays the course throughout the film. And for many, sympathy slowly becomes empathy.

However despicable the facts, there is much to love about Loving's depiction of the harrowing real events surrounding their plight. Let us count the ways. First off, it marks a career best for writer-director Jeff Nichols (Take Shelter, Midnight Special), who gives audiences a fly-on-the-wall - almost immersive - look into the lives of this rock of a couple. His canvas is practically living and breathing-not without style but never being showy, as well as pointed without ever being in your face. Secondly, as if taking you by the hand, Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga lead filmgoers beat for naturalistic beat through their ordeal. Appropriate to the characters, their love is palpable and wholly real without ever getting hot and heavy on-screen. These are normal (in their eyes, at least, despite the mores of the period) and simple (but not simplistic) country folk thrust into extraordinary circumstances. Thanks to their performances and Nichols' understated framing of these performances, the drama never feels anything less than nakedly honest. It's a truthful depiction of a true story that feels incredibly refreshing in the bi-polar political climate of a very divided modern America where bigotry very much remains.

To Sun it Up: Black and White and Gold All Over.