‘King Richard’ Review: Will Smith shines in his best performance since The Pursuit of Happyness

Will Smith is fantastic in King Richard, one of the best sports films in years.

The race for the Academy Award for Best Actor is a dead heat between Smith for King Richard and Andrew Garfield for Tick, Tick… Boom!

Smith excels at showing the full portrait of Richard Williams. He shows us the good and bad. Richard’s tenacity, attention to sportsmanship and love for his girls shines. Unfortunately, Richard is egotistical, a bully, philanderer and struggles with letting go of the spotlight. Even with the good attributes, Richard has a tendency to overdo it.

Matching Smith volley-for-volley is Aunjanue Ellis as Venus and Serena’s mother, Oracene ‘Brandy’ Williams. She’s willing to let Richard take the reins up to a point. If his actions hurt their daughter, she’ll let Richard know for sure and more often than not, Richard wilts under her authority.

Saniyya Sidney as Venus Williams and Demi Singleton as Serena Williams have their moments later in the film. However, the decision to focus on Richard means Venus, Serena and the other Williams sisters fade into the background. Jon Bernthal surprises as Venus’s 2nd coach, Rick Macci. Bernthal, well known for playing tough guys, actually provides the film’s source of comedy. Tony Goldwyn also does a great portraying the more traditional tennis coaching style as Paul Cohen.

Zach Baylin‘s script runs a difficult tightrope. King Richard isn’t a full-on biopic of Richard Williams, nor is it a cradle-to-grave story for Venus and Serena Williams. The film’s a combination of both. King Richard does fall pray to telling, not showing from time to time.

Director Reinaldo Marcus Green does a fantastic job of capturing the dramatic scenes but does struggle to add variety to the tennis scenes. Despite the occasional unforced error, King Richard succeeds on the backs of Smith and Ellis’s performances. There’s a kitchen scene in this film that’s one of my favorite scenes this year. This scene alone gives a clearer picture of Richard than any other moment of the film.

As an overall film, King Richard isn’t quite on the level of The Pursuit of Happyness or Ali, but Smith is all aces as Richard Williams.

With the overview out of the way, let’s dive deeper into the Williams family. There may be minor spoilers. King Richard is streaming on HBO Max and in theaters.

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The Fear of Richard Williams

From the moment King Richard begins, it’s clear Richard Williams has a chip on his shoulder. With the exception of his wife, Richard never backs off from anyone. He has a clear plan for Venus and Serena’s career. When his way of doing things is questioned, Richard doesn’t hesitate to bite back.

It’s a conversation with his wife that illustrates why he never changes his approach. Richard has a chronic fear of people thinking he’s stupid. He doesn’t even allow Venus to determine what she wants to do with her career, because it alters his plan.

Smith does a great job of showing the ugly edges of Richard Williams. However, the film doesn’t go as deep into the negative aspects of Richard’s story as it could and when it does delve into his mistakes, the film tells, instead of showing. For example, his wife mentions sons he’s had with another woman, but we never see them confront Richard or Oracene. King Richard references his plan often, but we never get specifics as to what the plan entails, only that he has a plan and everything is working according to that plan.

The Coronation of King Richard

Despite Richard’s ego, the love for his daughters is clear. Learning to play tennis in Compton isn’t easy. He’s often physically assaulted by a local criminal element but keeps bringing his girls to court.

When the girls start moving through the junior tennis ranks, Richard’s response to boasting is a tad over the top, but the sentiment is appreciated. He believes in giving the girls a real childhood. Once the tennis match or practice is over, Richard would demand no further talk about tennis. When a girl cheats during a match after prompting from her father, it’s Richard that tells Venus to keep her cool when many parents would have lost it on the parent. Even at an early age, Richard instilled in Venus and Serena humility that will make them such good role models in a sport that featured so few black women.

After the kitchen confrontation with his wife, Richard begins to relent and allows Venus to compete. From this point on, Richard defers to Venus on her career decisions.

Rick Macci’s interactions with Richard bring out the best and worst in the man. Richard’s worries over his daughter becoming a pro too quickly clash with the coach who sees a talented player capable of greatness. The difference between Macci and former coach Paul Cohen is that Macci eventually relents. He’ll make a strong case and yes he has selfish reasons for wanting to push Venus forward. He makes a percentage of Venus’s future earnings. However, he ultimately follows Venus and Richard’s lead.

Serena and Venus

Venus gets more of the focus in King Richard than Serena. A fact that Richard brings up to Serena near the end of the film. All of the coaches and trainers were necessary to get Venus to No.1 in the world someday.

He keeps Serena in the shadows so to speak because she’s tougher than Venus and doesn’t need the extra attention. Venus will be great, Serena will be the best of all time.

The dynamic between Venus and Serena is great when the film focuses on it. Saniyya steps forward into the spotlight as Venus in the climactic tennis match. She does a great job of showing Venus’s confidence and nerves that comes with a great tennis match. The sequence is so good from an acting standpoint, it makes you long for more tennis matches in the film. Unfortunately, the tennis matches themselves don’t distinguish themselves much.

King Richard Final Thoughts

Smith’s performance is the best in a sports film since Tom Hardy‘s in 2011’s Warrior. The script at times doesn’t probe as deep into Williams’s failures nor does it focus on Venus and Serena as much as they deserve. However, the strong cinematography by Robert Elswit and impressive directing from Green helps King Richard stand out in the pantheon of sports and biopic films.

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