Loving Reviews

Sometimes a movie speaks loudest when nobody raises a voice. I can’t remember a single scene of fierce denunciation, fervid declaration of righteousness, act of violence or shouting match in Loving. Yet it lands with as much impact as any movie you’ll see this year.

The quiet joke of the film is that you could scarcely meet two less revolutionary souls.

I may be biased toward Jeff Nichols' movies because I love everything he does, but I think he did it again. This is an emotional story that is done justice by tasteful directing and unreal performances by Edgerton and Negga with help from an amazing support cast. This movie is as important and relevant as ever.

This is a somewhat low-key film that presents the married life of Richard and Mildred Loving, the interracial Virginia couple who are prevented from living as a married couple in their home state of Virginia in the 1950's and 1960's and who wind up going to the Supreme Court to defend their rights. Their case voided all the miscegenation laws still on the books in the south. The acting of the two main characters was superb, and I was riveted to the screen, even though I knew how it would all turn out. The director could have included more histrionics and drama, but I felt that his presentation was true to the nature of the Lovings. It was fascinating to see that the demure housewife Mildred was really the more courageous of the two in the pursuit of justice.

Nichols has crafted a beautifully moving and tasteful document of a quietly groundbreaking event, told from a very human perspective.

Nichols—director of Take Shelter, Mud and, most recently, Midnight Special—tells the Lovings’ story in a way that feels immediate and modern, and not just like a history lesson.

The atmosphere of Loving, the feeling it evokes, is the film’s most distinct quality. The mood is somber and restrained, and the characters — not just the principals, but the people they know — seem beaten down.

Negga, an Ethiopian-born, Irish-raised Hollywood newcomer, gives an Oscar-worthy performance. She's so still and powerful, she gives the film a depth the script doesn't earn. I can't think of the film without thinking of her gaze, and I can't think of that gaze without admiring the film more than it deserves.

Here is a film with its heart in the right place, an anatomical correctness coexisting with heartfelt, forthright conviction and an admirable belief in the virtue of simplicity and underplaying.... But this restraint sometimes sags into a kind of absence, and means the film itself is a bit rhetorically underpowered.

This film is based on the true case of Mildred and Richard Loving, an interracial couple who lived in Virginia (where the film was also shot) and ultimately challenged the miscegenation laws in the Supreme Court. This film quietly tells their story without overblown outrage or extreme emotion. Director Jeff Nichols lets images, especially faces, poignantly tell as much of the story as the minimal dialogue. With the sweetly touching, skillfully underplayed performances by Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga (both of whom will surely see Oscar noms) their situation is rendered even more poignant. Some may find the pace slow, but I found it quietly compelling. In addition to the historical significance of the case, this film beautifully portrays the enduring love that made their relationship transcend racial boundaries.

Richard Loving loved his wife Mildred and she loved him but never once in the movie “Loving” do they say “I love you,” in words. The way they look at each other, touch each other, lean on each other, interact with each other shows those three words more than saying it would. At one point Richard tells a lawyer that he should tell the Supreme Court that he loves her and in a scene that will have you holding your breath not by what is said but how Mildred looks at Richard after she hears the decision tells you more than heavy love making or sex scenes could. Based on a true story the only thing ‘Hollywood’ about “Loving” is that Loving is the real name of the White man and Black woman who drive to Washington D. C. to get married as at that time it was illegal to marry a person of a different race to wed in Virginia. After returning to Virginia their bedroom is invaded by the Sherriff and they are arrested and jailed this being the only jarring scene in this movie. Jeff Nichols, director and writer of the screenplay, tells the story in a very low key of the couple’s right to marry, live together, and raise their children together. After writing a letter to Robert Kennedy the case is taken by the ACLU to the Supreme Court. There are no dramatic court scenes with just a brief voiceover telling the final decision declaring marriage an inherent right. The sheriff could have been shown in a very sinister light but he is the law of the State until it is changed. While the intermingling of Whites and Blacks is mostly underplayed, with the positive and negative aspects shown as accepted way of life neither side is ‘right’. One scene, in a local bar, could have been explosive but stops short just as showing Black and White men’s enjoying a day of drag racing is just that, friends enjoying their day off. The only ‘Hollywood’ aspect of the film is that the name of the couple are Loving but that was the case and couldn’t be improved upon just as the performances of Joel Edgerton as Richard and Ruth Negga as Mildred couldn’t have been Improved upon. Richard is a silent man who just wants to provide for the wife and kids he loves, doesn’t even want to get involved with the Supreme Court case or the attention it draws to him. He wants to do his job being a bricklayer and tinker with the cars for the drag races. Mildred wants to care for her husband, children, make a comfortable home for them without interference from anyone. Both actors express so much with saying so little. With Marton Scokas as the Sheriff, Nick Kroll and Jon Bass as the ACLU lawyers plus an ensemble of excellent actors, playing family members and friends, director Jeff Nichols has no need for histrionics to bring attention to them. As the screenwriter, Nichols steers clear of clichés and concentrates on the love aspect of the couple instead of theatrics of the lawyers. What he gives us is a moving story, a story that will bring a tear or two to your eyes while bringing an important law case to many that would change lives and lead to ‘declaring marriage an inherent right’ and making Gay marriage possible. “Loving” is definitely one of the best movies I have seen this year.

For a movie about such an important topic, it feels pretty empty when it comes to emtion. It's slow, quiet and oddly distant. I think that's kind of the point. It protrays the Lovings as a very unassuming couple. They didn't care about all the lawer side of the supreme court case, they just wanted the veredict to let them stay together, because they loved each other. That's the film's biggest strength and weakness. The relationship between these two is very sweet and you can tell they love each other. However, I was left a bit dissappointed when it came to the importance of landmark case. The film focuses more on the Lovings as a regular couple that just so happens to be interracial, which is great. But by focusing mostly on this, it deprives the audience from witnessing just how important the case as a whole was, since most of it happens off-screen. Making the film a courtroom drama would have been the wrong move, but more courtroom scenes would have been welcome. Still though, their relationship is lovely and Ruth Negga and Joel Edgerton give great and very understated performances, so the final product is defintely worth watching. I just wished it could have had a bigger emotional impact. I love subtle, understated movies, but sometimes it's just nice to feel things, you know? I will say this however; I certainly did not expect Michael Shannon to show up. Then again, this IS a Jeff Nichols movie, so I probably should have.

If I could sum up Loving with one word it would be underwhelming. I could throw lots of other negative words at it but underwhelming is very fitting. Jeff Nichols managed to take the true story of Richard and Mildred Loving and turn it into a dragged out, bland story that had me wishing it would just end. Ruth Negga’s performance left me speechless because it was so surprisingly average. I expected a lot from this movie but never boredom. This should have been spectacular instead you get uninspiring, anticlimactic and lifeless. An unfortunate disappointment, no strong recommendation.

Am I honestly the only one who just found this film OK at best? Unfortunately, to put it rather bluntly, I found myself quite bored by this film from start to finish. It had a great true story to tell but did so in an unfocused and borderline-uneventful way. In addition, it felt far too conventional and painfully obvious Oscar-bait to me. And normally when a film like this is slow-moving, usually it's the acting that keeps it from being a complete letdown; but alas, Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga's well-meaning but overall bland performances and lack of dramatic depth couldn't even really save the film for me. Overall, I was hoping for a slightly better turnout for me when watching this film, but again, to be brutally honest it was just a really boring and unfocused film.