King Richard: Criando Campeãs

"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.

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.

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.

This is a good sports film and has lots of revealing information about the Williams family that most people will not be aware of. Remarkably, Will Smith puts aside his constant need to show himself off and gets absorbed into the personality of the Williams' father.. All the acting is great, especially the 5 girls and the mom. Of course the film is from the POV of the Dad and I imagine there are other viewpoints. I was disappointed that given the emphasis on the Dad, when the film ends and they give a summary of what happened after, nothing is mentioned about the Dad. That makes no sense in the context of the film.

Will Smith delivers a tour de force performance in this engaging family drama as the overbearing father of tennis legends Venus and Serena Williams. It's a beautifully shot film with strong performances overall. My only gripe is that this is not a biopic about the Williams sisters. Instead the film chooses to focus on its main star - Will Smith - as the helicopter parent. Venus Williams gets some screen time on her rise to fame, but Serena is inexplicably ignored in the plot despite being arguably the more famous star of the two.