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It's hard to think of a couple less assuming, and in historical and legal terms more important, than Richard and Mildred Loving, whose marriage is at the heart of the quietly brilliant drama "Loving."
Richard (Joel Edgerton) was a house builder and auto mechanic who fell in love with Mildred Jeter (Ruth Negga) in their rural Virginia town in 1958. Mildred got pregnant, and the couple went to the District of Columbia to get married. This would be utterly unremarkable except for the fact that Richard was white and Mildred was black — and interracial marriage was a felony in Virginia in 1958.
Writer-director Jeff Nichols introduces us to the Lovings with simple scenes of Richard and Mildred living their lives, not bothering anybody, until the local sheriff (Marton Csokas) and his men raid their house one night and arrest them both. A local lawyer (Bill Camp) tells them the judge will be lenient if they plead guilty, which they do. The judge (David Jensen) tells them they will avoid jail time if they move out of Virginia and don't return for 25 years.
The Lovings move to D.C., have three kids and try to live as normal a life as possible. Mildred, uncomfortable with city life and watching the civil-rights movement growing, is determined to raise her children back in Virginia. So she writes a letter to Robert F. Kennedy, the attorney general, telling her story. This letter gets to the American Civil Liberties Union, which sends young attorney Bernie Cohen (played by comedian Nick Kroll), who wants to represent the Lovings — and, with the help of constitutional law expert Phil Hirschkop (Jon Bass), take their case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Nichols, so masterful with the Southern crime drama "Mud" and the science-fiction tale "Midnight Special," gives the Lovings the restrained treatment they deserve and probably would want (if they wanted any attention at all). He unfolds the story naturally, beckoning the audience inside the Lovings' world and making us feel like observers of life as it happens.
The two lead performances perfectly capture Nichols' tender approach. Edgerton's Richard says little, but makes it count when he does. Negga, recognizable to fans of AMC's "Preacher" and ABC's "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.," is the couple's emotional conduit, using her soft voice to speak volumes about their love for each other and their weariness at the unfair law meant to keep them apart.
Of course, Loving v. Virginia is a landmark court case — so much so that Justice Anthony Kennedy cited it in the Supreme Court's ruling on Obergefell v. Hodges, the case that made same-sex marriage legal across the nation. "Loving" is so moving not because it pays tribute to this couple's place in history, but because it shows how ordinary this extraordinary family was.
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'Loving'
A sensitive, tender drama about an interracial couple whose love was strong enough to change American law.
Where • Area theaters.
When • Opens Wednesday, Nov. 23.
Rating • PG-13 for thematic elements.
Running time • 123 minutes.