King Richard
King Richard
Starring Will Smith, Aunjanue Ellis, Saniyya Sidney, Demi Singleton
Directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green
Growing up the rough streets of Compton, California, Richard Williams (Will Smith), his wife Brandy (Aunjanue Ellis), daughters Venus (Saniyya Sidney) and Serena (Demi Singleton) and three step-daughters try their best to be successes - in fact, Richard had a plan written out for Venus and Serena before they were even born, and that was to make them into tennis legends. From an early age he pushed them to practice, train, and play like professionals, all the while instilling important qualities like respect, confidence, and humility through it all. Their tennis prowess attracted the attention of several coaches before settling on famed tennis coach Rick Macci (Jon Bernthal). Relocating to Florida, Richard continues to pressure his daughters and interfere with Rick's coaching, thinking that he can do it better, and always leaves Rick in the dark. Having trained Venus to go up against the 7-time Grand Slam champion, Richard also encourages Serena to play the game, saying she'll be the best tennis player ever.
"King Richard" is a biopic that's incredibly polished and sun-laden with larger-than-life personalities that allows them to serve as literal kings and queens on the big screen. Nothing Richard does is seen as terrible, despite his overbearing nature and his desire to be in the spotlight, and nothing the sisters do either is seen as terrible - not that they do anything particularly bad, but even in the midst of hardships they appear as polished as stones washed for eons in the river. It's all sunshine and rainbows for the family (apart from a few early altercations with some ruffians in Compton), and every negative aspect is glossed over in favor of a glowing appearance. Even a tense moment between Richard and his wife Brandy is smooth and anti-climactic, and doesn't really go anywhere - much like the rest of the meandering story.
The issue with biopics is that we all know the eventual outcome, and this is no different. We all know Venus and Serena became the best tennis players ever, and there's no tension in the story because we know it'll all work out for them. Even when they lose, it's not the end of the world, and there's no high stakes to keep us interested in this severely overly-bloated story (it could've cut an hour and would've been perfectly fine). Alas, we get to watch as Richard elevates himself to king-status as he pushes his daughters to be perfect while teaching them not to be perfect while continually interjecting himself in the coaches' lessons and trying to prove that he could train them better, but not wanting to do it for some reason or another, most likely because he was spending more time in front of the cameras.
The supporting characters around Richard really don't have a lot to chew on, as Richard dominates the screen. Aunjanue Ellis tries to give Brandy her own voice, but essentially she's relegated to the long-suffering wife trope who has one moment of outburst but not even that leads to anything of substance. Saniyya Sidney performs admirably as Venus, who gets more screen time than Serena, and has an extremely hard task to play one of the most well-known people in the world. While her acting is spot-on, her tennis matches are very methodical and structured, and honestly a bit boring. Demi Singleton doesn't have more to do with Serena than serving as Venus's shadow, even though technically she's the more decorated tennis player. Jon Bernthal's role as Rick Macci basically consists of him trying to train the girls while being continually frustrated at Richard's meddling time and again.
Much praise has been given to Will Smith for portraying Richard Williams, and that praise is greatly deserved. Despite his long repertoire of work, Smith has only been nominated for two Oscars (both for playing real-life people in "Ali" and "The Pursuit of Happyness"), and will more than likely receive his third nomination here for playing the role he does so well: the misunderstood hero figure who does everything he can for the betterment of his family. It's been said before but "King Richard" proves it - this is another Will Smith movie where Will Smith does Will Smith things.
Delivering a bloated, polished look at Richard Williams, "King Richard" does include a strong performance by Will Smith, but it's nothing he hasn't done before - and ends up as a mediocre, adequate biopic if you can endure the long runtime.
The Score: A-
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