Loving - Movie Review

Rating: 4 out of 5

While this film tackles a huge issue in the history of race relations in America, it's also a remarkably involving true story about a couple tenaciously holding on to each other in the middle of a storm of oppression. By taking such a personal approach, writer-director Jeff Nichols grounds the movie in authenticity, eliciting fine performances from the entire cast, with especially notable turns from Ruth Negga and Joel Edgerton.

It's 1958, and cross-racial marriage is illegal in Virginia. So Richard Loving (Edgerton) takes his pregnant black girlfriend Mildred (Negga) across the state line to Washington D.C. to get married. When they return to the family farm, they're immediately arrested and exiled to Washington, where they start a family. But Mildred longs to raise their three children back in their rural hometown, with their extended families around them. When Richard consults a civil-liberties lawyer (Nick Kroll), he finds that there may be some legal hope for them if they are willing to take on the system. This requires the help of a constitutional expert (Jon Bass) and the tenacity to stand up to a century of ingrained prejudice.

The film is written and directed with a sharp attention to detail, which means including some facts that are rather messy. This sometimes leaves scenes feeling unfinished, but the point is that real life isn't as tidy as it is in the movies. This also means that the film never tries to build a melodramatic sense of momentum, remaining intimate and somewhat reticent, echoing Richard and Mildred's personalities. Many of the biggest scenes take place off camera, while we are instead watching these steely, softspoken people who changed American law by quietly remaining true to their love for each other. Both Negga and Edgerton deliver subtle, wrenching performances as everyday people who express their strong views mainly in telling glances and touches that say more than words ever could.

This is a movie about unassuming heroes whose dignity shook a bigoted system to the core. The surrounding roles are much more colourful, and are finely performed by the terrific supporting cast to add a spark of energy to every scene. But it's Richard and Mildred's steadfast principles, held up by their friends and families, that make this such a vivid, urgent movie. It might never reach the big emotional climax we're hoping for, but it's an important account of a pivotal historical moment no one should forget. And it reminds us that life doesn't need to be thrilling for it to be momentous.

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Facts and Figures

Year: 2016

Genre: Dramas

Run time: 123 mins

In Theaters: Friday 4th November 2016

Box Office USA: $7,696,098.00

Box Office Worldwide: $7.7M

Budget: $9M

Production compaines: Big Beach Films, Raindog Films

Reviews

Contactmusic.com: 4 / 5

Rotten Tomatoes: 89%
Fresh: 163 Rotten: 21

IMDB: 7.3 / 10

Cast & Crew

Director: Jeff Nichols

Producer: Colin Firth, Nancy Buirski, Ged Doherty, Sarah Green, Peter Saraf, Marc Turtletaub

Screenwriter: Jeff Nichols

Starring: Ruth Negga as Mildred Loving, Joel Edgerton as Richard Loving, Marton Csokas as Sheriff Brooks, Sharon Blackwood as Lola Loving, Nick Kroll as Bernie Cohen, Bill Camp as Frank Beazley, Alano Miller as Raymond Green, David Jensen as Judge Bazile, Michael Shannon as Grey Villet, Jon Bass as Phil Hirschkop, Scott Wichmann as Reporter #1, Michael Abbott Jr. as Deputy Cole, Christopher Mann as Theoliver Jeter, Benjamin Loeh as Construction Worker, Bridget Gethins as Court Secretary, Karen Vicks as Clara - Cashier, Terri Abney as Garnet Jetter, Mark Huber as Store Pedestrian, Quinn McPherson as Older Peggy, Smith Harrison as Reporter / Supreme Court, Brenan Young as Older Sydney, James Matthew Poole as Drag Race Spectator, Chris Greene as Percy Fortune, Coley Campany as Secretary, Sheri Lahris as Secretary, Jordan Dickey as Construction Worker, Coby Batty as Telephone Man, Chris Condetti as Drag Race Spectator / Bar Patron, Chris Condetti as Drag Race Spectator / Bar Patron, Logan J. Woolfolk as Richard's Racing Crew, Robert Haulbrook as County Clerk, Will Dalton as Virgil, Andrene Ward-Hammond as Laura, Keith Tyree as Bricklayer, Pryor Ferguson as Infant Sydney, James Nevins as Spectator, Georgia Crawford as Middle Peggy, Tom Lancaster as Photojournalist, D.L. Hopkins as Alex, Lonnie M Henderson as Street Walker, Lance Lemon as Cousin Davis, Brian Thomas Wise as Court Audience Member, Ken Holliday as Drag Race Spectator, Terry Menefee Gau as Antieau's Secretary, Marc Anthony Lowe as Driver, Micah Claiborne as Toddler Sydney, Jevin Crochrell as Sydney, Middle, W. Keith Scott as Prisoner, Jay SanGiovanni as Racetrack Spectator, Jennifer Joyner as Hope Ryden, Tyrell Ford as D.C Teen, Devin Cleckley as Baby Sydney, James Atticus Abebayehu as Baby Boy #1, Jim D. Johnston as Phil's Dad, Derick Newson as Musiel Byrd-Jeter, Winter-Lee Holland as Boarding House Boy, Miles Hopkins as Construction Worker, Kenneth William Clarke as Older Donald, Dalyn Cleckley as Reporter, Robert Furner as Secretary, Victoria Chavatel Jimison as Field Hand / Drag Strip Attendee / Shot Gun Shack Attendee (uncredited), Darrick Claiborne as Courtroom Spectator (uncredited)

Also starring: Colin Firth, Sarah Green, Peter Saraf, Marc Turtletaub