King Richard

Now in their 40s the Williams sisters Venus and Serena have become what their dad predicted years ago, arguably the two best female tennis players ever. If you believe him, his plan started before they were born.

It is important to keep the title in mind, it is the Dad's story. Of course you can't tell the dad's story without a lot of focus on the sisters and this movie does. It focuses more on Venus and her professional start because she is the older of the two.

I well remember Richard Williams all those years ago, in his public persona he came across as a real jackass, and because of his personality it was hard to like him. But honestly, this is a superb movie, it shows a lot that none of us could have known. If this had been a fictional story it would be hard to accept. The movie is long, running almost 2 1/2 hours, but it is so well made that it never seemed long. Will Smith gives an award-worthy performance in the role and in fact on March 27th won the Oscar for best actor. And slapped Chris Rock onstage for making fun of Will's wife's shaven head.

My wife and I watched it at home on DVD from our public library. During the movie I wondered how the junior tennis was depicted so realistically and the 9-minute "making of" extra shows how they did. They used real champion caliber junior tennis players as tennis doubles and used face replacement technology to make it look like the young Venus and Serena actors were actually playing and hitting the shots.

The feel-good movie of the year.

Incredible performance from Will Smith, maybe his best ever. Lots of funny moments. The showing at the LFF had the audience up on their feet applauding.

The only real criticism would be it lacks grit at times - Richard Williams is painted as a teddy bear when, in reality, he has a well-documented dark side. The also comes with the inevitable sports movie saccharine gloss.

And I'd ignore the current low rating on here, it's the result of a ton of 1-star reviews made in protest of Will Smith being for the lead role.

Sure its a well made movie, but I have my issues with the direction. Mainly that it just feels void of character. It felt more like a sitcom, with a very streamlined narrative. Its very clear what emotion you need to feel at what point. The music is very blunt, and there is very little room for interpertation.

Thats my main problem with these very american movies. Its a constant barrage of 'now feel sad' , 'now feel happy' ect.

But apart from that, sure its not a bad movie. And I do have to give credit to its pacing. With a 2,5 hour runtime, the movie didn't feel like it was draggin its feet.

So all in all, competant movie, but awfull directing.

5/10: hmm.

Smith fans should be pleased with this film. It is a good show case for the actor. It is one of Smith's better performances as well. It's almost real acting from the star. The film is perfectly pleasant because of Smith alone.

I however am not overly fond of the film for two reasons. First, the direction and parts of the screenplay are dramatically inert. The climax of the film feels much more like a reversal of fortune and not an ending. And while the direction is technically polished it is uninspired. Second, the decision to frame the story as Richard's is decidedly odd. Some of the material is refreshing in a sports film context but Richard Williams should not overshadow his daughters because they are the ones who did the main work. The film robs the William sisters of a lot of agency-it feels gross in retrospect because it is clear that Smith shaped the story to make the film a vehicle to win an Oscar.

The film works and I think tennis people will get a lot from it. But the film is basically just a really good lead performance from a character who should have been in a supporting role.

Although it has its moments, Reinaldo Marcus Green's 'King Richard' fails to serve a powerful, winning smash. It is mostly formulaic, with some of the drama bordering on melodramatic. Will Smith delivers a pretty monotonous, borderline caricatured performance. The 'King Richard' star dwarfs, especially when combined with a forceful Aunjanue Ellis and a revealing Saniyya Sidney, and leaves the film without a compelling central figure.