King Richard: Film Review

Reinaldo Marcus Green directed bio-drama ‘King Richard’ is a true story based on the life of World no. 1 tennis players- Venus Wiliams and Serena Williams and their family~ mother-father and three other sisters.

Beware Spoiler Ahead!

“If you fail to plan, you plan to fail”

The film’s name is ‘King Richard’ after their father’s name- Richard Williams who is also the main protagonist of the film. The film beautifully captures the father’s role(played by Will Smith) as he exhausts all his sweat and hard work to make his daughters successful. Will Smith has portrayed it in a very well manner. He, accompanied by his wife; film captures the perseverance and labor of parents to make their daughters “champions”.

PLOT

Watch the Trailer here: https://youtu.be/FIsNbpJIa6k

A WarnerMedia company production, this movie King Richard revolves around the life journey of two world-renowned American tennis players- Venus and Serena Williams with a slight more emphasis on Venus Williams.

King Richard Movie

The movie kicks off displaying the toiling of the father. In the opening shot, he is seen buying tennis balls and abstruse how people around the country play tennis best. He even elucidates how he wrote the 78-page plan for their daughter’s entire journey even before their birth.

The film captures from the start how the family went through different difficulties to train them. Some of the key topics included – fighting poverty, complaining and annoying neighbors, savvy & rogue boys, and even black color apartheid.

He and his wife’s soul motto was to make their daughters “champions”.

Coming from a poor background, he could not even afford this training and had his proposal from many tennis coaches. However, he and his wife did not let this deter them and continued with their practice.

Eventually, a coach agreed but then kept a condition. He asserted he would only train Venus.

Thereafter, Venus began being trained by the coach while Serena by her mother Brandi Williams.

Ultimately the day arrived when she played a tournament. To no one’s astonishment, she won the match which proved to be just the beginning.

The film also captures how in the US, Tennis is a game that is not only highly paid but also played by wealthier white class people. The film captures the racism prevalent in the US closely. In a country where black people have always been looked down by whites, Venus’s victory was inconceivable.

Venus starts playing regular tournaments at various levels. Under Venus’s victory, Serena began feeling overlooked. Hence, one day she resolved to participate without disclosing it to her parents. She too wins the tournament.

Thereafter, their parents changed their coach and wanted both the girls to focus on their studies for now. They believed studies can’t be left behind.

The duo emphasized their studies besides continuing with their full-fledged tennis training after study.

Finally, in 1997 Venus William reached her first major final at the US Open, defeating all. Despite taking a long respite, her game was still excellent.

However, She didn’t win but even reaching the finals was no less. As she became the first black woman to reach such a position to compete in the finals.

Overall, the storyline is very intriguing and the audience will never feel bored watching the film. The films take us with their flow truly.

Characters

If we talk about the characters, the character played by Will Smith( of Richard Williams) is the best. He perfectly fits into the character’s father role. People can find themselves connected as dearing father who was taking all pains to make their daughters successful.

Hence, his excellent performance was applauded so much that he won several accolades this year. He won Oscars 2022, Golden Globe Awards 2022, and BAFTA Awards 2022 for Best Actor In a lead role. He has truly put his heart and soul into the character, it’s evident in the film.

Anujanue Ellis, who played the role of the mother was also so impactful in the whole movie. She too played quite a dominant role in the entire movie. Audiences feel connected to her character, as she excellently played the mother as well as trainer role for their daughters.

She is also claimed to have given one of her best performances in the film. She got nominated for the Best supporting actress role for this performance.

Further, the characters of Saniyya Sidney (as the character of Venus Williams) and Demi Singleton (as the character of Serena Williams) have also done justice to their characters. They make us swept through their performances not only in playing well. Also, the emotional aspect is heart-warming. Both of their pure relationship as sisters grab the viewer’s eyeballs.

Finally, Jon Bernthal(Rick Macci) as the latter coach has also done his job with excellency and delivered what was needed to be delivered to the audience about the new coach of both sisters.

Conclusion

The film captures the “Williams family” in a good manner, including their struggles and battles through poverty as well as racism to dominate a stage traditionally meant for the privileged as well as a particular class of people.