Sadly, Loving will be the first time that many Americans will have encountered the 1967 Supreme Court case that legalized interracial marriages. Our recommendation is to skip this tedious feature film written and directed by Jeff Nichols in an excessively slow-paced style.
Instead rent The Loving Story, a riveting and enlightening documentary directed by Nancy Buirski which provides a more rounded depiction of the events leading to the landmark Supreme Court case that struck down the anti-miscegenation laws on the books in 16 states.
In Loving, we learn little about the marriage of Richard (Joel Edgerton), a white Southern bricklayer, and Mildred (Ruth Neggra), an African- American woman with a pretty smile. Their major enemy is a zealous law-and-order advocate (Michael Shannon) who bullies them after they travel to Washington, D.C., to get married. When they return to Virginia, he sends them to prison for violating the state's anti-miscegenation laws. In court, they agree to leave the state.
Bernard S. Cohen (Nick Kroll), an inexperienced lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union, approaches the Lovings about a strategy to re-open their case and appeal it all the way to the Supreme Court. Unfortunately, all the legal maneuvers occur off-screen. Considering the dramatic and highly ethical dimensions of this landmark, it is a waste of our time to see repeated scenes of Richard laying bricks or smoking a cigarette and Mildred working around the house. There are still many citizens in America who admit in polls that they oppose interracial marriage. Certainly, Loving is not the film to change their minds.