Yes No Maybe So: "Loving"
Friday, July 15, 2016 at 7:45AM 
As far as first looks go, the La La Land trailer might have sucked all the air out of the room this week, but we also got a trailer for another Oscar hopeful: Cannes entry Loving. It left Cannes empty handed for prizes, but there was pletny of praise for the film and buzz for leading lady Ruth Negga. You can bank we'll be talking about this one before it finally arrives stateside in November all the way to the big show.
While that transfixing glimpse at Land was more a feast for the eyes and ears, the Loving trailer goes right for the heart. I know I'm higher on Jeff Nichols than most of Team Experience, so I can admit that I'm a little biased on the film already, even if I agree that his other film this year Midnight Special was his weakest. After flirting with fable and genre in his past three films, how will a more straight forward narrative work for the auteur this time?
Does the trailer make us any more or less excited? Let's break it down after the jump...
YES
• The focus here is on the Lovings themselves, and not necessarily on the legal landmarks that became of their love for one another. Not only does that mean we'll have the love story at the forefront, but less bland biopic trappings.
• Not to be hyperbolic, but Ruth Negga is more emotionally compelling and varied in the trailer than some of the best leading performances of the year thus far. I think it's safe to say we should belive the hype.
• Nichols may be taking less narrative risks, but his skill at visual storytelling is still on point here. Bonus points for romantic scenes of the actors together in the shot and minimal pingponging between closeups.
• The emotion seems rooted in performance and genuine affection, which goes a long way to prevent this from becoming preachy Lifetime movie fodder.
• The obvious topicality of the subject matter contrasted with the understated ordinariness of the Lovings is an important reminder that behind every heated political debate are actual human beings. That idea may be pedestrian, but the film looks to state it humanely and gracefully.
• *sniffles* No, I'm fine
NO
• Joel Edgerton is still a very mannered leading man. Even the vocal admirers of the film in Cannes had little to say of his performance, which is concerning because most memorable love stories deliver on both sides of the coupling.
• And his bleach job is still a lot for one's eye to handle at once.
• "I can take care of you." Please let this be less patriarchal in context.
• Nick Kroll? Huh?
MAYBE SO
• After Midnight Special was both too much and not enough, maybe Nichols will be better than ever with a more modest story.
• Call me crazy, but Michael Shannon looks a tad dreamy. Just a tad.
• Carol aside, I can't remember the last cinematic romance that wasn't ironic or comedic or of a franchise. This is a travesty and reason enough to give Loving plenty of slack.
• This summer has been a bane for movies, so looking forward to the fall makes movies like this seem like an oasis.
Check out the trailer below and let us know what you're thinking about Loving in the comments!
Reader Comments (21)
Mannered really,explain,i am rooting for him to breakthrough.
This looks pretty tedious. No, but I'll see it anyway out of Oscar completionism.
mark - His characterizations always read more as affectation to me, I just want something more genuine
You're not alone of Michael Shannon. He's a total dreamboat with a camera in this trailer.
I'm a total YES. Ruth Negga looks absolutely fantastic and the film seems beautifully directed. Can't wait.
Nate, stop! I love you, but Joel Edgerton is one of Australia's greatest exports! PLEASE let this be his major breakout. He deserves it.
Ruth Negga did not personally intend to upset Viola's coronation but the elements for such an event to transpire are here. She's prettier, younger, foreign, less preachy more appreciative, playing a real person, her love interest is a white guy which helped the last woman of color break the best actress barrier. This will also read as the more sophisticated performance because it's less showy. Cruel as this sounds but less showy and more effective is what they like from more attractive actresses and less so from the ones who have to prove their abilities by being bombastic.
Davis VS Negga please let's not make this a narrative this early in the year.
Midnight Special was a real letdown. Any film named after a 70s rock concert series hosted by Helen Reddy oughta deliver the goods. I'm hoping this one is the real deal.
I'm a YES. I've been waiting for Ruth Negga to break out for a while. I've been a fan of Jeff Nichols work so far, hoping this is another goody.
Seriously at David vs Negga already? Why do we have to pit Davis and Negga against each other? Why not root for both of them? Or get mad at The Academy since they're the ones who can't seem to allow multiple actresses of color to thrive at the same time.
What's with the "NO" at Nick Kroll? I know nearly everything he's done has been comedic thus far, but some of the best comedians make really great dramatic actors.
Maybe I have a soft spot for Edgerton, but I'm really looking forward to him in this.
Well, I teared up watching the trailer, so I think I'm at least a maybe...probable yes. Dramatic beats for this story look a bit too predictable, but maybe that's ok for this story. And I'm cautiously optimistic that Jeff Nichols will be able to put his own little idiosyncratic stamp on it, somehow.
I like Joel Edgerton fine, although he's not my favorite Australian export. But why does he look mildly mentally handicapped in this trailer?
Ruth Negga's eyes. Wow. So fucking expressive.
Murtada - and her smile, *swoon*
Looks like a classic inspirational weepie, and in the best sense. The comment about "i'll take care of you", and being patriarchal, if a man said that to a woman at that time it would mean exactly that and she would probably would have wanted that. With period pieces it gets on my nerves that we have to view them through a modern lens. People thought diffrently then. It's like people trying to censor Huckleberry Finn, that's how people spoke and thought, even if it makes us uncomfortable today.
@3rtful - I was right there with you until the last part, only because Halle Berry's part was pretty showy. Well, her big moments were really showy and then she got very quiet and subtle toward the end.
Anyway, I'm a yes.
YES of course.
Ruth Negga looks stunning and I want Joel Edgerton to finally has an Oscar nom.
YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YES....
@DJ
Boo boo the showiness of her role is not the bombast I'm talking about. In fact her white costar being her lover is the only thing she'll have in common with Ruth Negga if Ruth becomes nonwhite actress number two to win Best Actress. But we'll have to wait to see how the televised narrative pans out.
I'll support this film over birth of a nation.
LOVING looks like it could be very effective. How many of us ever think about the facts at the heart of the story -- a couple ripped from their own bed because of racist laws? Nichols is a director who's kept it interesting even when he isn't 100%. I'm a YES.