King Richard: Movie Review

Cast: Will Smith, Demi Singleton, Saniyya Sidney, Aunjanue Ellis, Jon Bernthal

Director: Reinaldo Marcus-Green

Will Smith serves up an ace in this biopic about the father of tennis legends Venus and Serena Williams.

He plays Richard Williams, a man who believed his daughters would be the best tennis players in the world, and who hustled and pushed for them to get the best shots at achieving the dream he'd set down for them.

From taking them to the gun-ridden tennis courts of Compton to relocating the entire family to Florida to attend an academy, Marcus-Green's film puts the spotlight squarely on Richard Williams, turning the movie into one about parental perseverance and positive reinforcement.

And how ever strong Smith's nuanced performance is - from taking in Williams' vocal tics to seemingly losing himself completely in the role - the script sometimes teeters dangerously close to shying away from revealing harsh truths about Williams' motivation, his methods and his almost abusively perverse approach to adhering to his manifesto.

It's not that King Richard veers into hagiography, more that it hides from going much deeper when problems arise. And they do arise - from hints about former relationship issues to a pent-up place of violence, there is some darkness to be had in King Richard, but Marcus-Green's direction  and Zach Baylin's script make these moments seem more like throwaways than chances for deeper characterisation and motivation examination. 

It's never abundantly clear why Williams is so insistent about the manifesto and at times, the insight is galling - especially when he chooses Venus over Serena to champion.

Thankfully, Smith papers over some of the more obvious cracks, removing the overbearing Richard and his vocal affectations from what could be a fairly one-note performance. But even he's restrained by the script's non-desire to go anywhere other than shallow waters.

And in the Williams' girls, the film finds its aces to help movie the film straight (sets) outta Compton. Their delightful edges and almost innocent performances help ground the Williams' sisters and make their sibling relationship one that sparkles in the push for perfection.

King Richard may transcend some of the biopic conventions, and deliver some impressively edited sports sequences, but some of its script choices prove to be puzzlingly frustrating and dramatically irritating as the film holds its court over you for some 2 plus hours.