Tropic Sprocket / Loving

By Ian Brockway

Director Jeff Nichols (Midnight Special) deftly handles a historical drama with  “Loving,” the true story of Robert and Mildred Loving, who were arrested and forced out of their home state of Virginia simply because they loved each other in the United States of America in the 1950s.

They were a  married interracial couple.

This story is earnest, straightforward and simply conveyed. Richard Loving (Joel Edgerton) is a somewhat shy man, a bricklayer whose mannerisms are direct and plain, yet his inner being churns with complexity.  Mildred (Ruth Negga) also gives an appearance of reserve, but she is anything but timid.

When the the police discover the two as a white man and a black woman illegally sleeping together, the two are arrested and locked in jail with little recourse. Richard gets a lawyer, Mr. Beazley (Bill Camp). Beazley knows the judge and tells the Lovings that he can get the charges dropped if they agree to move and not return for twenty five years. Reluctantly, the couple agree. The Lovings relocate to Washington D.C., but as they return to Virginia to give birth, law enforcement hounds them again.

There is nothing extra, unnecessary or superfluous in this film. This is a story of two real people in love, who are up against an absurd and unconscionable law. One does get the impression that most of the characters depicted are harsh, back-biting or petty, including Richard’s mother (Sharon Blackwood).

Joel Edgerton gives a stand alone performance and all but disappears, becoming the man Richard Loving. Ruth Negga possesses a subtle fire as the resolute Mildred. The excellent Michael Shannon appears as a Time magazine photographer who delivers only the slightest bit of sneaky behavior.

“Loving” is a clear, direct film given without guile or agenda. It is to be commended for its simple honesty. Rather then a “message” film, it is a chronicle of two people who loved each other, and by a Supreme Court ruling came to convince the whole country that it was their human right to marry regardless of race (a parallel to same sex marriage), and to enjoy what every person deserves to experience, if they so choose.

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