Loving
DVD
Review
by Kam Williams
Bittersweet Biopic
Revisits 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-miscegenation 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 an
Oscar-nominated performance by Ruth Negga opposite Joel Edgerton.
Together, the two 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: Universal
Pictures Home Entertainment
Blu-ray/DVD
Combo Pack Extras: Making Loving; A Loving Ensemble; Loving v.
Virginia; Virginia: A Loving Backdrop; and feature commentary with
writer/director Jeff Nichols.
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