King Richard
Anchored by a tremendous performance from Will Smith, this heartfelt, engaging, funny and enjoyable biopic is a joy to watch.
Richard Williams (Will Smith) lives in a poor black community with his wife, and five daughters. But his focus is undoubtedly on his two daughters Venus (Saniyya Sidney) and Serena (Demi Singleton), who he believes can be raised to be tennis champions. Despite the views of the all white tennis community, the dangers of the hood, and his own need to work at night and train them during the day, Richard never falters in his belief. The film charts their journey from nobodies to budding young stars on the juniors competition tours, to Richard’s desire to have them not play juniors, all the way to Venus’s debut major competition and the beginning of the sister’s legacy.
Directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green, King Richard is a surprisingly exciting and engaging film. One of the most interesting things about the movie is the structural tonality of the piece, which disconcerts enough to make this feel fresh. Usually, in a sporting biopic like this, there are certain beats that one might look out for to track how far along you are in the movie, and how you are meant to be feeling. The hero training, then the first successes, followed by a failure, before ultimately finding themselves in a mammoth final battle to achieve success, fame and fortune. King Richard subverts all expectations of this form.
Largely, that is because the movie is focussed on the father, rather than the sports stars. That means that by the time we actually get to Venus Williams playing a competition of any import, the movie is pretty much over. Not only that, but she doesn’t succeed entirely, which is again fresh. This makes the entirety of the film seem like a new, exciting and unpredictable take; largely, because of our expectations of what a movie like this should be going in.
By no means is this only successful in the gimmicky, new way however. Will Smith gives a powerhouse performance as the famous patriarch of the Williams family. In some ways it is a transformative experience, with a distinct vocal change and a simultaneously frail and lively physicality. It is a great performance from a man who, when he puts his mind to it, can deliver great acting.
He is ably assisted by a swathe of engaging cast members reveling in the costuming and vibes of the time periods and locations; from the outstanding young actresses playing the famous sisters, to Jon Bernthal as their put upon coach.
Visually, the film is also impressive, switching from an engaging lower budget feel in the training and home life parts of the story, to a high tech big budget feel in the competitions the girls play. The camera work during the serves from the tennis phenom sisters is particularly impressive, and gives the games a very exciting and rapid feel.
Overall, King Richard takes a subject that not many would care about (the dad of Venus and Serena), couches it in the heroics of the daughters, and in doing so reveals not only a truly interesting story about the father, but even more about how impressive the two most well-known female athletes in the world are. It is a surprising, exciting film, and features one of Will Smith’s strongest performances in decades.
