If you think you know the story of Venus and Serena Williams and their journey from playing on the run-down courts of Compton to the history books, think again. Thanks to the new true tale, King Richard, we are granted a front-row seat to how both Richard (Smith) and his wife Oracene ‘Brandy’ Williams (Aunjanue Ellis), came together as a family to produce not one, but two Hall of Fame tennis players whose ability to bring the sport to neighborhoods that previously never considered tennis a viable sport has been unmatched and downright historic.
Director Reinaldo Marcus Green has a way with this picture that is sublime. He has the utmost confidence in his script (by Zach Baylin, who has also been tapped to pen the third Creed film) and his ensemble to let them do their thing, and thus giving him so much to work within the editing bay in crafting a motion picture that is inspiring, moving and most of all, celebrates the institution that is family.
The Williams’ find mom and dad raising not only Venus and Serena, but also three other daughters—Tunde Price (Mikayla Lashae Bartholomew), Isha Price (Daniele Lawson), and Lyndrea Price (Layla Crawford). It’s a full house, but it is one filled to the brim with love and affection… and most importantly encouragement, support on a myriad of fronts, and the knowledge that every single one of those children keenly knows to their core that they are treasured equally from each parent and each other.
There had to be countless angles that the Williams sisters story was considered in its path to what has resulted in gloriousness. By centering it on their father Richard and his 70-plus page plan for his tennis gifted souls, the viewer learns all you need to know about Serena (Demi Singleton) and Venus (Saniyya Sidney) in terms of their development as tennis players, but also as human beings.
Growing up in South Central Los Angeles certainly had its challenges, Richard is seen on a multitude of occasions getting assaulted by local thugs as he stood up for his daughters. There is a tenacity to Richard that comes through in Baylin’s script that in the hands of Smith is something astonishing to behold.
He’s an interesting fellow. On one hand, he will talk your ear off about tennis, his daughters, his beloved wife, and how incredibly important it is that Serena and Venus succeed and “change the world.” Yet, on the other hand, he can be quiet, introspective and Smith has him act in such a way that the viewer has to discern what is going through Richard’s head by what the former Fresh Prince does solely with his face and emotive toolbox.
There has been plenty of challenges that Smith has tackled over the years, heck beginning with his first major movie role in Six Degrees of Separation to his hurricane Oscar-nominated turn in Ali and then his subtle force of nature that was his turn in The Pursuit of Happyness—which also earned him an Oscar nod. He will hear his name called once again when nominations are announced in January. But this is not simply a tour de force from a single actor in a delightful story told triumphantly cinematically.
Every single nuance and angle that went into the production of King Richard is pure excellence. The hurdles that Venus, Serena, and their family had to overcome are well documented and also stoically put into context. So often we can see Richard conferring with Serena or Venus before they take the court or after they’ve competed and never quite known what wisdom, insight, or simple coaching he’s offering his girls. As we see in his film, sometimes it’s about tennis and occasionally, it’s about something completely different. King Richard not only humanizes Richard Williams but the entire Williams clan in such a way that for those of us who already thought that the sisters were national treasures, with the release of this surefire Oscar bait flick, I would stretch that moniker of a national treasure to the entire family.
Often onscreen and onstage we witness “stage” moms or dads who are perniciously driving their children to succeed where they had previously failed at the most or at the least, had never tried. For Richard Williams, he saw the talent in Venus and Serena from the get-go and simply nurtured it and he as one spoke in the wheel that is their childhood.
Both Sidney (as Venus) and Singleton (as Serena) are revelations. As otherworldly as Smith is, King Richard does not work without the supreme talent of these two fine young actresses. There is a fine line they have to encapsulate that involves their individual characterizations. Both Serena and Venus possess an intense commitment to their sport, all while staying serious with their schoolwork. They are well behaved, as are all the Williams girls, respectful, and despite having to grow up around constant exposure to drugs, crooked cops, and proliferation of violence, they collectively never lose their eye on the prize and that is largely due to the instruction and mentorship of their father and mother.
Richard enlists a few coaches as the girls get near high school age. First, there’s Paul Cohen (Tony Goldwyn), who discovered and coached teen phenom Jennifer Capriati. There’s a lesson there too. After all, Capriati would get herself straight and have a decent pro career, but as Venus and Serena are flirting with going pro or not, Cohen’s prodigy would be arrested in a Florida hotel room with over 20 grams of marijuana. Don’t think that doesn’t ricochet through Richard’s mind as he attempts to navigate the future while insisting that his kids be allowed to be just that… kids!
After a spat with Cohen, Richard secures the services of world-famous coach Rich Macci (Jon Bernthal). He runs a tennis academy of sorts in Florida and woos the Williams away from South Central Los Angeles to what feels like a paradise in the Sunshine State.
Notice something? There’s been plenty of tennis highlighted throughout King Richard, but Venus and Serena’s on-court success hasn’t even been touched upon. The film centers on family, making the most of one’s gifts—regardless of the lot you’ve been dealt in life—and unconditional love and how primarily, that could be the key to any child’s success, regardless of their chosen vocational path.
With King Richard, the film is also a moving and charming salute to parenting and the priceless roles that moms and dads play in the development and overall life satisfaction quotient and potential of any human. There is an extraordinary feel and tone to what Green has shot that is unwavering right up to and including the tear-inducing musical menagerie that is Beyonce’s sure-to-be-nominated theme song, Be Alive.
Green’s film is a celebration of so many facets—from life itself to parenthood, from a double dose of inspiration on how to succeed when the cards are stacked against you. Overall, though, it is a character study where a titular soul is a man on a mission with his heart firmly in the right place. Those in his orbit are all touched by and share his commitment to family, possess an unwavering adoration for all that live in that inner circle. After all, it is simply stunning that King Richard produced two of the greatest to ever pick up a tennis racket.
Grade: A