Review: Loving

Loving is the kind of film you may go into thinking you know what you will see. A film released around awards season about the interracial couple behind a landmark Supreme Court case has a few possible cliches. One might expect big speeches, courtroom drama and a stirring conclusion that makes the viewer feel better for having watched the film. Director Jeff Nichols avoids most of these cliches in favor of a quieter take, focusing on the normality of the Lovings and the life they wanted to preserve.

Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga give Oscar worthy performances as Richard and Mildred Loving. Living in 1950's Virginia proves to very difficult. After getting hauled off to jail in the middle of a night and then losing a court case, the Lovings are forced out of state and away from their families to live in Washington D.C. The film follows them as they reluctantly get involved with the ACLU to bring their case in front of the Supreme Court.

Loving could so easily be the film everyone expected. Instead the film focuses on the quiet moments of life that everyone knows and the ways in which the hatred of others interrupts it. Nichols has all his actors working in every scene, their hands constantly doing something. This gives the film a very naturalistic feel and reminds us constantly of the ordinariness of the Lovings. Never are they made into civil rights activists or great orators as other films may have done.

The film's true star is Ruth Negga. Her performance as Mildred is filled with quiet nuance. Her eyes tell the true story of the film as she finds the strength to stand up for the right to a normal life. Nichols understands what he has in her. In several scenes, he stays close on her face instead of cutting away to someone speaking to her. The effect is stunning in several moments. Loving is the type of film where the emotional swells come at unexpected times and it is due to the fine lead performances. Edgerton is equally nuanced and complex. His Richard is a man who struggles to express himself and yet knows he must to achieve the peace he needs. 

Jeff Nichols continues to become a great American director. Like Take Shelter, Loving is best in its observational nature and the way the plot feels secondary to the character beats and moments. Loving could have felt manipulative and calculated to deliver big emotional moments. Instead the film favors quietness. The pacing may not be exciting enough and the ending may seem to slight for others but Loving worked on all levels for this reviewer. I appreciate greatly how the film avoids sappy speeches or manipulative moments. Nichols seems hellbent on offering up a different type of story than audiences expect. 

Loving is a story that feel so perfect for our times. It is odd that a story set in the 1950s would have so much resonance with today. The film shows that at the root of such battles for love is a desire for normalcy and for a quiet life that is not interrupted. The structure of Loving emphases this to great effect. 

4.5/5