I’m not a sports person by any means and that makes it harder for me to give any film in that genre my full attention.
Most of the time, it’s because I find the movies relying on too much sports jargon that bogs everything down when I have to look up the meaning and therefore I am distracted into losing interest.
Other times it seems to be problematic by trying to dance around the plot by playing too many sports clip moments instead of furthering the story with key actions.
Even with such experiences in the past, I carved out enough time to sit through “King Richard” over the weekend and find it a far cry better than expected.
It even had some of those “feel-good” sport drama and family moments.
King Richard is a biographical drama film directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green and written by Zach Baylin that follows the life of Richard Williams, the father and coach of famed tennis players Venus and Serena Williams, who serve as executive producers of the film.
It stars Will Smith in the title role, Aunjanue Ellis, Saniyya Sidney, Demi Singleton, Tony Goldwyn, and Jon Bernthal.
Richard Williams (Smith) lives in Compton, Calif., with his wife Brandy (Ellis), his three step-daughters, and his two daughters, Venus (Sidney) and Serena (Singleton).
Richard aspires to turn Venus and Serena into professional tennis players; he has prepared a plan for success since before they were born.
Richard and Brandy coach Venus and Serena on a daily basis, while also working as a security guard and a nurse, respectively.
Richard works tirelessly to find a professional coach for the girls, creating brochures and videotapes to advertise their skills, but has not had success.
One day, Richard takes the girls to see Coach Paul Cohen (Goldwyn), who is in the middle of practicing with John McEnroe and Pete Sampras.
Despite his initial reservations, he agrees to watch the girls practice, and is impressed.
Unfortunately, the Williams family can’t afford professional coaching and Paul refuses to coach both girls for free.
Cohen selects Venus to receive his coaching, while Serena continues to practice with Brandy.
Paul encourages Venus to participate in juniors’ tournaments and she quickly finds success, but Richard stresses to Venus and her sisters to remain humble despite their wins.
At one of Venus’s tournaments, Serena also signs up to play, unbeknownst to Richard.
As both girls continue to succeed, the family continues to be treated as outsiders among the predominantly white, upper-class competition.
Richard meets with high-profile agents, but fearing that his daughters will be taken advantage of, pulls them out of the junior circuit entirely.
Paul warns him that his decision will destroy the girls’ chances to turn pro, but Richard stands firm, firing Paul as coach.
Coach Rick Macci (Bernthal) travels to California to see the girls play.
Impressed, he takes the girls on, and the family relocates to Florida to train at his facility.
Richard surprises Rick by reiterating that the girls will not play juniors, instead training and attending school like normal children.
The movie bogs down right about there and the family gets strained, but, like with all sports flicks there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.
Plus, we all know that that isn’t where Venus and Serena Williams’ stories end.
The film is available on HBOMax Streaming until Saturday, Dec. 19!
