"Loving" is a new historical drama looking at how one couple's marriage changed the laws of this nation. Time Warner Cable News film critic Neil Rosen filed the following review.
Mildred and Richard Loving were married in Washington DC in 1958. But when they returned to their home in Virginia they were arrested, because mixed race marriages were illegal in that state. Sentenced to leave Virginia for 25 years, this is about their nine-year fight for justice and how their case went all the way to the Supreme Court.
As the Loving's, Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga turn in terrific performances. Edgerton in particular, a native Australian, makes a remarkable transformation and is utterly convincing as a soft spoken Southern bricklayer.
But writer/director Jeff Nichols leaves some unanswered questions on the table and that's just one of the film's many shortcomings. It's extremely slow paced, and once you get past the Loving's arrest, which takes place early on, there's very little dramatic tension in the film. The Supreme Court case is not even shown - just the verdict. Considering the explosive nature of the subject matter, another director could have made the material a bit more compelling.
The Loving's relationship is underdeveloped, at times mundane and even remote, so you can't even get a good sense of the love between the Loving's. Most importantly were not shown how the social and political climate changed dramatically in this country from 1958 to 1967, which made that landmark decision by the Supreme Court possible.
Sadly, the historical significance of the event gets somewhat shortchanged in the low-key approach that this filmmaker has taken, making "Loving," for the most part. a missed opportunity.
Neil Rosen’s Big Apple Rating:
Two Apples