A minimalist production treats romance that has global effects.
Loving
Grade: B+
Director: Jeff Nichols (Mud, Take Shelter, Midnight Special)
Screenplay: Nichols
Cast: Ruth Negga, Joel Edgerton
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 123 min.
by John DeSando
“Tell the judge I love my wife.” Richard Loving (Joel Edgerton)
That pretty much tells all you may know about Richard Loving, a husband in an interracial couple who reveals very little except that he is devoted to his black wife, Mildred (Ruth Negga). Loving is a marvel of minimalism, a socially realistic portrayal, in un-Hollywood understatement about the marriage that rocked the state of Virginia and struck down anti-miscegenation laws forever through decree of the Supreme Court.
As Virginia claims their marriage is “against the peace and dignity of the Commonwealth,” the ACLU prepares to defend the couple all the way to the last resort. Remarkably, writer-director Jeff Nichols takes the high road by not exploiting the melodrama inherent in the real life situation, as Hollywood would see it, and offering the small beats of the couple’s life.
Yes, there is no dramatic courtroom argumentation; only a message about the Supreme’s decision is mentioned because the filmmaker is interested in portraying the small daily life of a couple definitely shy about publicity and focused on the welfare of their children. So insular and happy is the couple as for it to be questionable they could live so peacefully given the incendiary nature of their relationship in the South.
Be it Richard cementing cinderblocks or Mildred baking bread, the film never loses the sense of small lives that are caught up in history. Edgerton is convincing as the laborer of few words uncomfortable with the growing attention; Negga has an intensity of expression unmatched by most film actresses today.
The principals and the film deserve the Academy’s attention this year just as the world attended to their characters’ historical importance.
“We are all descendants of Adam, and we are all products of racial miscegenation.” Lester B. Pearson
Loving is a prestige film worth its prestige.
John DeSando, a Los Angeles Press Club first-place winner for National Entertainment Journalism, hosts WCBE’s It’s Movie Time and co-hosts Cinema Classics. Contact him at JDeSando@Columbus.rr.com
