King Richard is biopic of Richard Williams (played by Will Smith), the father of Venus and Serena Williams (portrayed by Saniyya Sidney and Demi Singleton). The movie follows the family from the girls training as children up until a teenage Venus turns pro.
In the beginning, they are living in Compton, California. Richard trains Venus and Serena during the day and works as a night watchman. Brandy, (Aunjanue Ellis) the girls’ mother, works as a nurse and takes care of everything else, including the other children. Eventually, the struggle of training the girls without proper facilities and living in L.A. during the gang warfare and police brutality of the 1990s become too much for them. They decided to move to Florida and have the girls train at Rick Macci’s (Jon Bernthal) Tennis Academy.
While Florida is a much better environment for both Venus, Serena, and the whole family; Richard still clashes with people. He refuses to let Venus and Serena play Juniors Tennis because he doesn’t want to add extra pressure on them. But he constantly books publicity for Venus and pulls both girls out of practice to do things like visit Disney World. He says he wants the girls to “have a normal childhood” but his methods irritate Rick Macci as it interrupts his development plan. But Richard has his own “Plan” for how Venus and Serena will become champions. He’s very stubborn and inflexible when asked to deviate from the plan in any way. It wears on the girls’ tennis coaches and then eventually Venus, Serena, and the rest of his family.
Obviously, Venus eventually turns pro. And I think this is the real weakness of the movie, the audience always knows how it’s going to end. Tennis fans know that Venus and Serena would become the best female tennis players of the 21st century (and that Serena would become the G.O.A.T.). For non-tennis fans, it’s extremely likely that Venus and Serena are the only tennis players they’ve ever heard of, so again, the story won’t be a surprise.
This movie isn’t a puff piece on Richard Williams. It shows that he is a flawed, stubborn person who put Venus and Serena’s tennis success ahead of everything else. Himself yes, but also his wife and other children. And there’s something inherently hypocritical about insisting his kids have a “normal childhood” when you’re training them in a sport 6-8 hours a day. He’s not always a sympathetic person, but in the end, he did make them champions.
The filmmakers also don’t shy away from the darker sides of the Williams’ life. It shows that Venus faced racism during her brief Juniors career (in one scene a White father encourages his daughter to cheat when she’s losing to Venus by calling Venus’s good shots “Out”). It shows that gang violence in Compton was a constant presence during girl’s childhood.
Will Smith does a great job portraying Richard Williams. He captures Richard Williams’ tics without it becoming an impression. Smith makes Richard a fully realized character.
Biopics can be tricky because it’s hard to know where to start and end a story. Especially in this case where it’s a story of the father of two tennis greats. The filmmakers do a great job of capturing Richard Williams’ essence and telling his basic story. But it’s not one of the greatest biographical films of all time.
I think this is a must-watch for tennis fans. Seeing the background of how Venus and Serena became, well Venus and Serena, is very captivating. For Will Smith fans, this is a good performance by Smith, but not one of his all-time greats. If you’re not a tennis or a Will Smith fan, I don’t see much reason to watch this. I’m rating it an HBO Now.