I’ve missed this Will Smith. For a while there, I thought his career was going the way of Tom Cruise’s. Cruise became a box office star then quickly turned his sights to Oscars and prestige. After a few nominations without a win, Cruise went back to blockbusters with infrequent failed attempts at an Oscar. The Last Samurai and Collateral got nominations for costars. Lions for Lambs and Valkyrie failed to attract any attention. Eventually, Cruise gave up entirely and has made a series of very entertaining blockbusters ever since. That’s great, but it’s a bummer knowing that he has these other kinds of performances in him that he just doesn’t do anymore. Smith had a similar arc. After becoming the biggest box office star on the planet with Bad Boys, Independence Day, and Men in Black, Smith got the Oscar bug. He’s great in Ali and The Pursuit of Happyness. Could’ve gotten Oscars for either. Seven Pounds was misguided and ended his epic run of $100 million movies. He’s had a few attempts at prestige since. Winter’s Tale and Collateral Beauty were misfires. I worried that the close call with Concussion would be Smith’s Valkyrie moment when he gave up. I mean, he followed that with Suicide Squad, Bright, and Aladdin, so it looked like the fear was warranted. Thankfully, he’s taking at least one more swing at it with King Richard: a movie from the Blind Side playbook in a lot of ways.
King Richard is about Richard Williams: father of Venus and Serena. It’s the story of how his determination along with other things, led to his daughters becoming Tennis superstars. It is a pretty remarkable story and it was only a matter of time before it was made into a movie. The Williams family went from Rodney King-era Compton to a prestigious Tennis academy. Richard refused to let his daughters play in Juniors competitions for years out of fear of burning them out. The fact that it worked out is either evidence that Richard Williams is a genius or very lucky. Probably and perhaps dangerously both.
The movie dips just enough into all the obstacles in their way to work. It touches on the Williams’ meager means and sometimes militant but loving parenting style. It addresses the threats within their Compton community and the racism outside of it without languishing in them. It never loses sight of the Tennis itself and how hard Venus and Serena had to work at it. It’s a tremendously balanced screenplay. While on the long side – the movie is 2h24m – it uses all the time well. It’s one of the best inspirational sports movies made in many years.
Smith is at the center, of course. His performance is pretty impressive. Richard is a unique character. If calibrated poorly, he could come off very silly. There’s a little Bobby Boucher in the way he talks. Richard is smart but not educated, which is tricky to do. It’s assumed that Will Smith is the Oscar front-runner right now, and it’s easy to see why. I’ll leave the Oscar prognosticating for another day, but I’d be happy to see him holding that trophy for this. It really isn’t a one-man show though. This is a strong cast all-around. Aunjanue Ellis holds her own against Smith. You get the sense that there’s an entire movie behind Brandy’s story too. The young women playing Venus and Serena – Saniyya Sidney and Demi Singleton respectively – are great too. Sidney has a lot more to do, since Venus is the older sister and the one who really had to shine to make these in-roads. Again, even though the move is centered around Richard and Smith’s magnetic performance, it doesn’t lose sight of the fact that Venus is the one actually playing. When the movie shifts focus to her on occasion, she’s great. Jon Bernthal is there too as Venus and Serena’s Tennis coach, Rick Macci. It’s a trickier performance than it appears. Macci is a salesman. He is recruiting them for eventual financial game and he comes on strong. He’s ultimately a good guy though. Macci is comically flustered by Richard’s many bewildering decisions yet he never comes off as incompetent. I’ve seen that same performance handled very poorly in other movies.
I don’t know a lot about the true story of the Williams family. I get the sense that the movie sanitized a decent amount. I’m hearing the Williams family’s account. Venus and Serena are producers on this after all. Even if that’s in name only, that does affect the way the story will be told. Frankly, I don’t really mind. The movie does reference some of the seedier aspects of Richard’s life and it doesn’t deify him as a character. The pitch line version of this story is good enough that they don’t have to embellish that much to make it interesting. I don’t need the movie to be 100% true to life anyway. It told its story in an engaging way and made the thematic points it wanted to. This is a wholly enjoyable movie.
Verdict: Strongly Recommend
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