To See or Not to See: Loving

In 1958, Richard Loving, a white man, and Mildred Jeter, a black woman, broke the law. They got married. Loving tells their story.

In the state of Virginia in 1958, it was illegal to be married to someone outside your own race. Despite that law, Richard (Joel Edgerton) and Mildred (Ruth Negga) went to Washington, D.C., got married, and returned to their small Caroline County town. Their marriage is discovered by the local sheriff’s office, and they are sentenced to one year in prison. The judge rules, though, that the sentence will be lifted if they leave Virginia and never return together for at least 25 years. The Lovings leave their families behind and move to D.C. to begin to raise their own family there. However, the Lovings fought against that Virginian law the entire time.

Eventually, they secretly move back to Virginia while their case is being fought at court with the help of the ACLU and lawyers Bernard S. Cohen (Nick Kroll) and Phil Hirschkop (Jon Bass). The Loving’s case garnered a lot of nation-wide attention—even being featured in Life magazine by photographer Grey Villet (Michael Shannon). The case makes its way to the U.S. Supreme Court, and the Court unanimously decides that the laws prohibiting interracial marriage are unconstitutional.

Unfortunately, the pacing of the film was quite slow. Rather than diving deep into the characters, they were mostly flat and lacked any chemistry (necessary, I think for a film about a couple fighting for their right to be together). It is a credit to the fine work of Ruth Negga that she was able to give Mildred some dimension. Her mannerisms and expressive eyes convey much more than her moments of dialogue could.

Neither Mildred or Richard were big talkers. But, while Negga wasn’t held back by that, at times, Joel Edgerton struggled with it. At times, you could see an emotional weight and contemplation of the life he has given his family because of his decision, but Edgerton was never quite able to really give Richard some “oomph.” The one incredibly heightened moment of tension and uncertainty when Richard thinks he is being followed home, flashes Edgerton to life, but it is all-too brief.

The best thing about Loving is that it is a somewhat forgotten moment of history that is now in the spotlight again; the Lovings are an ordinary couple who changed the world.

★ ★ out of 4

Photo Credit: Focus Features