Deck only seems stacked against the Massachusetts fight for gay marriage

This workmanlike doc is dedicated to plotting the years-long battle to preserve the right of same-sex couples to marry in the state of Massachusetts. While Saving Marriage is pragmatically composed, its production values are more suited for TV viewing, where, hopefully, this doc will find its healthiest home.

Conveniently distributed close to the upcoming elections, and close to what could be a similar debate in California, Saving Marriage moves somewhat exhaustingly through the congressional struggle to maintain the Massachusetts law permitting gay marriage. We begin the story just after gay marriage is declared legal in the state, and hundreds of couples line the path to the courthouse in anticipation of being united on the day the law goes into effect. Restrained and sweet anecdotes are shared by waiting couples, who all find wonder in the power of the bond they’re finally able to enjoy. As Massachusetts is the first state in the nation to permit such union, an amendment to the Constitution is immediately called for that would effectively end the liberty of marriage for same-sex couples in Massachusetts and simultaneously take the battle from the local to the national level.

In a myriad of ways, the doc makes clear that those who oppose gay marriage are precisely those who have no intention to employ (or enjoy) it. As such, the politics at hand seem terribly crucial to one party and quite impractical to the other. Meanwhile, every time a battle to protect same-sex marriage is won, another more harrowing one arises to endanger it anew. However, this is the only real clue we have that the opposition to same-sex unions is particularly heated. We hear pieces of the opposing argument, but equal representation is not really the agenda of Saving Marriage: the film aims less to inform the viewer towards his/her own conclusion and more to document the movement in Massachusetts and why it meant so much to those involved.

The problem here is that, while this seems like a story rife with the drama of ages, it’s also a story mired by the drudgery of bureaucracy. It’s true that the film contains a handful of inspiring activists and politicians, some who are willing to risk a great deal in the service of both standing for what they believe and standing upright in the face of history. However, the film’s moments of beauty aren’t the ones involving politicians and activists. They’re not even the moments when activists, sitting in the hallways during crucial Congressional committee meetings, rise in celebration of their victories. The film’s strongest moments are the candid and intimate exchanges that transpire (mostly in the first half of the film) between same-sex couples who hope to marry and are waiting for the amendment to be voted out of Congress. It’s in the aspirations of the awaiting couples that this film finds its most resonant purpose.

Distributor: Regent
Directors/Producers: John Henning and Mike Roth
Genre: Documentary
Rating: Unrated
Running time: 90 min.
Release date: October 10 ltd.