Reviews
For the full Variety review seen on our homepage, click here.
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The tone of the film is solemn and pious, which seems almost inevitable when the topic is segregation and racial intolerance. But there are other reasons to watch this film besides feel-good expediency… it’s the Lovings, not Loving v. Virginia, that hold our attention. Their reticence, even under such close camera scrutiny, is intriguing and even charming. They met when Mildred was 11 and Richard was 17. “It was love at first sight,” their daughter, Peggy, says in an interview.
The New York Times
February 14, 2012 (full review here)
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In all, The Loving Story is a perfect time capsule that illuminates the racist past of our country with a uniquely personal and poignant emphasis. It’s a film that will continue to be enjoyed whether viewed on Valentine’s Day, during Black History Month or any other time of year.
The Hollywood Reporter
February 12, 2012 (full review here)
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This story about the Lovings’ courage and determination is enough to make viewers care deeply about a legal decision—a decision that has particular resonance today, given the ongoing battle for marriage rights for same-sex couples. If a documentary can inspire us to look past the politics and punditry to recognize the humanity of the people our laws demonize, then it has certainly done the nation a service.
Mother Jones
February 13, 2012 (full review here)
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I’ve seen your wonderful film! It’s gripping, moving, and extremely personal. The juxtaposition between these urban sophisticates and rural domesticity is extremely dramatic. Especially with the paradox that the Lovings are cleverer than the lawyers think. It’s not just a story of a forbidden marriage, but of a quiet people who were underestimated by everyone.
Colin Firth
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Marcie and I just watched The Loving Story and were deeply moved by your fine film. It ranks alongside Let Us Now Praise Famous Men in its stark beauty and searing honesty. The Loving Story should win every award given for documentary film, and I know it will have a tremendous viewing audience when it airs on HBO. It will also have a welcome audience in classrooms across the country.
William Ferris
History Professor at UNC-Chapel Hill, Associate Director of the Center for the Study of the American South and former head of the National Endowment for the Humanities
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It’s not an LGBT doc, but watch how the extraordinary HBO project The Loving Story, about the 1967 landmark Supreme Court Loving v. Virginia decision that struck down bans on interracial marriage, will impact the legal drive to bring marriage equality for all to this country. Nancy Buirski’s wonderful film, using much archival footage dealing with this landmark case, presents a beautiful, quiet but brave Virginia couple—Richard Loving and his African-American wife Mildred—who, because they were married, could not live in their home state. The other upfront heroes of this amazing story are the two young lawyers who persevered to bring the case to the top court and finally get anti-miscegenation laws throughout the country overturned. The Loving Story, which deserves a spin in theatres, will provoke a re-think of what marriage really is.
Film Journal International
May 3, 2011
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The Loving Story is a dignified treatment of one of the most important legal fights in American jurisprudence.
Washington City paper
June 17, 2011
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In a world where the most famous documentarians seem to be Michael Moore and Morgan Spurlock, it’s refreshing to see a true, non-entertainment focused documentary that still manages to be captivating in a way reminiscent of The Maysles Brothers.
The Independent Critic
(for full review click here)
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You’ll cheer at verité footage of the young and menschy ACLU lawyers Bernard Cohen and Philip Hirschkop, barely out of law school long enough to be admitted to argue before the Supreme Court. You’ll chuckle at their older selves recalling their first impression of taciturn Richard Loving as a redneck. (He kinda was.) You’ll find yourself wondering in amazement again and again at Mildred’s quiet country manners and her determination to make things better for her family and for other families like hers.
The Awl
April 27, 2011 (for full review click here)