King Richard

Greetings again from the darkness. Sports parents. Band parents. Dance parents. Cheerleader parents. Drama parents. We all know THOSE parents ... and many of us, whether we admit it or not, ARE those parents. Director Reinaldo Marcus Green (JOE BELL, 2020) and first time screenwriter Zach Baylin bring us the story of the unconventional, hard-driving, flawed, well-intentioned father of tennis superstars Venus and Serena Williams.

Will Smith portrays Richard Williams in a showcase role that he capitalizes on. Richard Williams is not a particularly likable man - his hustler mentality is eclipsed only by his stubbornness. But more than anything, Richard Williams was committed to giving Venus and Serena every opportunity to succeed in a tennis world that seemed like a different universe to the Compton neighborhood in which they were raised. Richard and his wife Oracene (an outstanding Aunjanue Ellis, THE HELP) coached the young girls themselves in public parks via instructional articles in Tennis magazines. Both parents balanced their jobs with this coaching, and Richard spent a significant amount of time "marketing" the girls to professional coaches, most who had no interest in taking on pupils who couldn't pay.

Venus (Saniyya Sidney) and younger sister Serena (Demi Singleton) trust whole-heartedly in "The Plan" their father has in place. It's a plan designed to place million dollar checks in their hands, and lead them to the top of the tennis world. Their first break comes in the form of John McEnroe coach Paul Cohen (Tony Goldwyn), who agrees to coach Venus. The real fun begins when Richard cuts a deal with super coach/trainer Rick Macci (a terrific Jon Bernthal) to take on both girls and cover the families living arrangements in Florida.

What makes this film work is that so many of us can relate to just how difficult it is to be a parent, and never settle for less when it comes to the kids. Now, Richard Williams is an extreme example - and his enormously successful daughters have dealt his approach a hand of credibility. Richard and Oracene are presented as very protective of their daughters, but also obsessed with helping them excel at school, tennis, and life. Given that there are three other daughters living in the house, it's surprising that we don't get more details on the reactions from those girls to the favorable treatment of Venus and Serena. The family is presented as being very tight-knit and loving, but it's difficult to swallow that jealousy didn't rise up periodically.

This truly is the story of how Richard Williams remained focused on getting his daughters to the top, so don't expect the tennis history of Venus and Serena. The young actors playing them are excellent, but this takes us through the foundation of their careers while overcoming adversity, not the professional highlights. Oscar winning cinematographer Robert Elswit (THERE WILL BE BLOOD) makes the tennis look legitimate, while also bringing us the family intimacy. In fact, the scene in the kitchen is one of the more intense and well-acted scenes we will see this year, and the camera work amplifies the tension. On the lighter side, we get Will Smith singing Kenny Rogers' "The Gambler", and the closing credits show actual clips of Richard, Venus and Serena, as well as a rundown of their impressive achievements. Director Green has delivered a crowd-pleaser with some poignancy and a few well-placed messages. It wouldn't surprise to see a few award nominations attached to this one.

Opens in theaters and streams on HBO Max beginning November 19, 2021.

King Richard

Some elements were good but to be honest much of the movie was made with the agreement and the involvement of Richard Williams and is quite an airbrushing of the history to make him appear in a good light.

Alarm bells, you have to ask yourself why does a biographical movie start with Richard Williams being 38 years of age, practically middle aged, because what went before is either irrelevant or unsavoury.

The movie started with a happy couple and 5 young girls, a close loving nuclear family, both parents working hard, one a nurse the other a security guard, looking out for their children but living in a rough part of town. However this film omitted to say he already had 5 children, that he abandoned, with another women whom he was divorced from. Of the 5 girls in the family that was shown only Venus and Serena were his and why they were chosen by him as money making machines. I might add he has as least 10 biological children in total as well as the three adopted ones shown here.

The movie then leaves the impression they struggled to be recognised and inferred this was racially motivated. Venus was made at 4 and half to play tennis on the public courts as part of the "master plan" and as early as 7 she had already been recognised and was being coached locally. You can't be overlooked as a 7 year old, this is twaddle!

The movie instigation is based on this remarkable "insight" by Richard that he "foretold" the greatness of these two children, perhaps even before they were born. Hardly remarkable, in reality most parents have a master plan and his detailed history seems to have been constructed retrospectively.

Will Smith and Aunjanue Ellis, who played his wife held this together with the tennis, Venus and Serena playing minor roles. The whole movie was overly earnest where was the humour in all of this, Richard constantly said "enjoy yourself", but no one ever seemed to!

Overall, the movie is fatally flawed, it is not quite the American dream comes good, the history is distorted, the racial elements exaggerated, the fight to have their talent recognised fabricated, the back story omitted etc etc.

Overall, as entertainment it's a 6 outta 10, Will Smith was very good, as a historically accurate record is a 1 outta 10 from me.

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.

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.

"King Richard" is an interesting film, because we all know what the ending is, but have no idea of the process. Therefore, it has to have an engaging middle, so that the sure ending becomes well deserved. Acting is good by all actors and actresses. I enjoyed watching this uplifting film.