Another Sports biopic comes to theaters. Usually, it’s about a football or baseball or basketball star, but this time we get a biopic about tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams and how they became stars after being coached by their father Richard Williams, hence the name of the movie, King Richard. Admittingly, I am not a tennis fan and hardly knew anything about Venus and Serena Williams. Maybe I’m the perfect audience member having gone into this film blind and not knowing much about the two tennis icons. This allowed me to see how informative the movie really is. I admit that I found out a great deal about Venus and Serena Williams, and the film only made me want to know more, especially about Richard Williams. The movie was entertaining, only made better by the Great Performances of Will Smith and Aunjanue Ellis who played the parents of the two tennis stars in the film. They were fantastic. And although, there was some controversy surrounding Will Smith playing Richard Williams, there’s no denying how great his performance is. Love or hate Will Smith, he has he has turned out some stellar performances as sports figures, the main one being Muhammad Ali. It almost makes him perfect for the role of Richard Williams Because let’s face it it’s no small task to play the legendary Muhammad Ali.
The movie is about Richard Williams and how he molded Venus and Serena Williams when they were about ten years old to make them tennis stars. As he said in the movie, he had a plan the day they were born, and he executed that plan. At the start of the movie, we find Richard Williams teaching his daughters on a broken-down tennis court in the Compton neighborhood of LA. It seems almost an impossible task that he can mold two tennis stars under tough circumstances. But he does it and is able to find them a top-rated Tennis coach that has the right pedigree to get them to the top while also, eventually getting them to a prestigious Tennis Academy that has a great reputation for turning out the best tennis stars in the United States. We get a great backstory for Venus and Serena Williams and yes this is a bit of a spoiler, the film doesn’t show them winning their first professional tournament, the film is about how they got there, and all that Richard Williams sacrificed for his daughters. The story is not so much about them as it is about the father who successfully made a plan for their success. A biopic can be a great movie, but it usually doesn’t do any better when telling the whole story compared to a documentary. I don’t feel like that matters so much with this film because of the performances by the cast. The cast gives us an intimate portrayal of these characters, which in turn gives us a great connection to them and that’s something a good documentary can’t do. So, what makes this movie worth watching are the performances, mostly of Will Smith. It may not be his best role, but he’s fantastic as Richard Williams.
I don’t think the movie is perfect because it only gives us a glimpse of what happened with Venus and Serena Williams right up to when Venus makes her professional debut in a tournament and almost beats the number one ranked tennis player in the world. It’s not bad for a story, but it does leave the audience wanting more. While the title is called King Richard and you can arguably say that the movie really is about him, it shouldn’t be. I think the focus of the story should be the perfect balance of Richard Williams and when Venus and Serena are kids. Their journey is just as important, and the film focuses too much on what Richard Williams did for them up until Venus Williams makes her professional debut and we see everything more from her perspective. Maybe that’s on purpose, all I’m saying is the film could have been better if there was an equal balance of the different perspectives from the characters because it wasn’t just Richard Williams’ Journey and he didn’t do it alone, But the pacing is pretty good. It’s a 2-hour movie and it flies by quickly, keeping you well entertained
Overall, this is a good movie and worth checking out at least on HBO Max. The entire cast does a great job of giving us a glimpse at the backstory of Venus and Serena Williams right up until the moment they turn pro, but make no mistake, this is really Will Smith’s film where he gets a shine more than anybody else. It’s a great performance, maybe even worthy of an Oscar nomination, but there’s only so many things a 2-hour movie can tell compared to a documentary series. And there’s certainly more to tell put the story of Venus and Serena Williams. If this film did anything, it made me wish that there was a multiple episode documentary about Venus and Serena Williams because they’re both so interesting and their journey to the top of tennis is a remarkable one considering their background. The movie will certainly leave you wanting to know more about them and although, the film doesn’t tell us enough about their story, The performances by the cat will make you want to see this movie. Will Smith is great in the film and his performance alone will not leave you disappointed, nor will anybody else’s performances.
