Loving
Film Review by Kam Williams
Poignant Period Piece Recounts the Forbidden Romance That Led to Landmark Supreme Court Decision
Mildred Jeter (Ruth Negga) and Richard Loving (Joel Edgerton) committed a crime just by falling in love when they were in the bloom of youth back in 1958. That's because she was black and he was white, and they were living in Virginia, one of the many Southern states with anti-miscegnation laws still on the books forbidding cohabitation, marriage, procreation or even sexual relations across racial lines.
Nevertheless,
Richard was so smitten he proposed and, after Mildred accepted, he
purchased a vacant plot of land where he promised to build their
dream home. However, when it came to time to wed, they had to travel
north to Washington, DC, a city where they could secure a marriage
license.
Upon
returning to their tiny hometown of Central Point, they were promptly
arrested during a nighttime raid staged by policemen tipped off about
the recent nuptials. They charged the couple with violating section
20-58 of Virginia's Racial Integrity Act, a felony punishable with up
to five years in prison.
The
Lovings were ultimately convicted, but fled to the District of
Columbia rather than serve their sentences, especially since Mildred
was expecting their first child by then. What a tragedy it was for
them not only to be fugitives of justice, but to be forced to start
their family in a strange big city, when they already had a place to
live, if it weren't for state-sanctioned racial intolerance.
Five
years later, their plight came to the attention of Bernie Cohen (Nick
Kroll) and Phil Hirshkop (Jon Bass) attorneys with the American Civil
Liberties Union (ACLU). The lawyers talked Mildred and Richard into
lending their names as plaintiffs in a suit challenging the
Constitutionality of Virginia's longstanding statute prohibiting
interracial marriage.
The
beleaguered couple agreed, and the appellate process worked its way
up to the U.S. Supreme Court which agreed to hear the case. "Tell
the judge I love my wife," Richard implored the ACLU legal team
preparing the oral argument.
On
June 12, 1967, the Court announced that it had arrived at a unanimous
decision written by Chief Justice Earl Warren. He declared that
Virginia had violated the Lovings' rights to both Equal Protection
and Due Process as guaranteed by the 14th Amendment.
Directed
by Jeff Nichols (Mud), Loving carefully chronicles the life and times
of an unassuming couple reluctantly thrust into the national
limelight by a landmark legal case. The production features endearing
performances by leads Ruth Negga and Joel Edgerton who generate a
quiet, yet convincing screen chemistry portraying Mildred and Richard
as modest working-class heroes.
A
poignant period piece about a pair of practically-saintly role models
well-deserving of their iconic status in the annals of American
jurisprudence.
Excellent (4 stars)
Rated PG-13 for mature themes and ethnic slurs
Running time: 123 minutes
Studio: Big Beach Films
Distributor: Focus Features
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