King Richard review: Will Smith’s real-life sports drama is a winner

In Reinaldo Marcus Green’s charming, well-acted inspirational sports film King Richard, Richard Williams (Will Smith) shows Walt Disney’s Cinderella His tennis-prodigy girls, Venus (Saniyya Sidney), and Serena [Demi Soloton]. Venus just won another junior tennis championship after sweeping the court with her rival. Williams doesn’t take kindly to what he perceives as Venus bragging about beating a white girl. His daughters are impressed by him CinderellaHe believes the film teaches dignity and humbleness. Williams was a Black American who grew up Louisiana. He believes that humility and obedience are how Blacks survived the South’s white-dominated South.

Zach Baylin’s script, unfortunately, doesn’t fully explicate the complicated, internal politics working within Williams. Without explicitly stating so, this film is an adaptation of real events. That leads to friction between the glossy, wholesome triumphs common to most sports biopics, and the uneasy interrogation needed for a character like Williams, a vain leader who’s guiding his daughters toward tremendous triumphs, while feeding them uncomfortable and even disturbing messages. That push and pull between frankness and a spin that flatters Williams keeps Green’s King RichardIt is a great movie. But it doesn’t inhibit it from being enjoyable. It’s tonally conflicted, but it’s an oddly compelling piece about an unlikely Black family succeeding in a white-dominated space.

Photo: Chiabella James/Warner Bros.

King RichardIt all begins in Compton (California). Richard and Oracene Ellis (a beautiful Aunjanue Ellis), live in an impoverished, violent neighborhood. Oracene is a nurse who works two shifts, while Richard works night security and trains Venus and Serena. Richard knows his daughters are talented — he believes he’s training up the next two Michael Jordans. But Compton’s downtrodden surroundings provide few facilities, and lack the institutional or community support required to mold champions. Richard is a prodigy himself, spending his time promoting them. He creates a low-budget promo video and a booklet, then stalks country clubs in search of an investor.

Green’s film follows several familiar inspirational sports motifs, especially some seen in Randall Wallace’s Secretariat. Both films show the protagonist disregarding conventional wisdom and believing that success is just around the corner. These nonbelievers represent the evil obstacles of this tale. Richard and Oracene’s busybody neighbor routinely chastises them for how hard they work their daughters. The local gang members catcall Williams’ eldest daughter, Tunde (Mikayla LaShae Bartholomew). Williams is almost able to kill one of the gangbangers in one bizarre scene. But a cruel twist of fate intervenes on his behalf. How the audience is supposed to emotionally read a Black teen suffering due to cyclical violence isn’t altogether clear.

The film doesn’t shy away from Williams as both a control freak and a huckster. When Paul Cohen (Tony Goldwyn) becomes the girls’ trainer, he grates against Williams’ insistence that Venus and Serena use an open stance, especially since Williams’ scant tennis knowledge comes from the multiple nights he stays up reading tennis magazines or listening to instructional audiotapes. Williams’ decision to withdraw the girls from junior tournaments makes them even more upset. Most of the time, Williams is acting from a place of love: He doesn’t want his daughters burning out under the weight of competition. King RichardA series of photos showing tennis children berating themselves for failing to succeed partially criticizes the pressures that are placed upon sports kids, especially their parents.

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In spite of this, it took only one hour for the entire first hour to King Richard is shaky, mostly because it relies too heavily on Williams’ perspective without actually inspecting him. His outlook on Black folks entering white spaces seems fascinating: He openly believes his daughters shouldn’t make waves, and shouldn’t trust the private, luxurious country clubs where they end up. Green goes on to say that there is no tension. Williams pushing his children relentlessly is a form of abuse. Williams talks of wanting Venus and Serena just to be children, but is that really what they are? The most relevant and potentially emotional scenes aren’t seen, merely talked about.

King Richard doesn’t lock in until its second half, when the film becomes more an ensemble than Williams’ story. Sidney Singleton and Singleton get more meaty scenes to allow their friendly natures to shine through. Jon Bernthal as the girls’ second trainer, Rick Macci, is a fireball of energy fueled by short-shorts, thunder thighs, and a lightning mustache. Ellis does a number of spectacular scenes, where she confronts Williams about his selfishness.

The intensity swimming in Ellis’ eyes, her naturalism, approaching the character not as a caricature but a real person, contrasts greatly with Will Smith, who balances his charming movie-star persona with broader character beats. Smith’s decisions don’t always work: His accent often slips, and the hunched shape he gives his body too often allows the seams of his performance to show. The best portions for Smith always occur when he’s relying on his easy wit. The worst portions occur when he tries to bring across Richard Williams’ contradictory racial politics. He plays both Williams’ subservience and his rebellion at a surface level.

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Robert Elswit is a documentary cinematographer who shoots the matches of tennis in a very claustrophobic way, placing the camera only behind the player serving. This takes out the thrill from the game of tennis. Richard Loncraine’s rom-com Wimbledon Another approach used full and establishing images to help contextualize the action. Viewers could see the ball travel, the players’ movement, and the gamesmanship of the shots. They are rare. King Richard.

Multiple competing interests are pulling on this film: The need to sanitize Williams’ image, the desire to make an already inspirational story more mainstream. King Richard never delves into the grittier side of racial dynamics, instead remaining at arm’s length while quickly moving past references to Rodney King or the Jim Crow South. The more interesting movie would probably be told from Venus and Serena’s perspective.

But in spite of those shortcomings, the beguiling draw of this rags-to-riches story can’t be denied. Smith’s immense movie-star presence can’t be ignored. The other performances are also crowd pleasing and include a variety of humorous one-liners. Green’s King Richard isn’t a great movie, but it doesn’t need to be when the characters are this warm, and its message is so earnest.

King RichardOn Nov. 19, the film will be available in cinemas as well as on HBO Max. Through Dec. 19, it will only be available on HBO Max.