Friday, March 18, 2022

King Richard (2021, PG-13)

I am slightly salty about this Best Picture nominee, namely because I’d rather watch a movie about Venus and Serena Williams than one about their dad, but it is a good film. While I’m not into sports, I typically enjoy a good sports movie, and this one is interesting and engaging.

Richard Williams has a plan, as he’ll gladly tell anyone. Before his daughters Venus and Serena were even born, he was mapping out a path for them to become tennis champions. He and his wife Oracene train the girls for hours a day, working to manifest a way out of Compton through their sweat, skill, and determination. But they also know hard work and talent isn’t enough. Tennis stars also need training and resources they can’t afford, so Richard busts his ass trying to find a coach who will give his daughters a shot.

Even though this is a biopic with a narrower focus, centering on two specific periods within a single four-year span, it feels a little more like a “traditional” biopic and comes with some of the trappings of that. But it’s still a very interesting story. There was a lot I didn’t know about the Williams sisters’ years coming up, and the film allows Richard to be a complicated, flawed character. He wants to create a better life for his daughters, but his methods for going about that are very unconventional, and he burns more than one bridge in the professional tennis world. And for all that he urges the girls to stay humble, plenty of people accuse him of being a media hog as Venus’s star begins to rise. While the film ultimately feels like it’s on Richard’s side, it’s not afraid to show the messy, at-times-damaging aspects of his drive. The film is also up for a Best Original Screenplay nomination.

The performances are strong throughout. Saniyya Sidney and Demi Singleton, who play Venus and Serena, are both wonderfully rootable, by turns steely, powerful, lively, and funny. They play well off of each other and turn in good work alongside the more experienced actors. Aunjanue Ellis, who was great as Hippolyta on Lovecraft Country, is excellent as Oracene. I’m glad to see she received a Best Supporting Actress nod for the performance. While we don’t get to see nearly as much of Oracene as we do of Richard, Ellis hits it out of the park in each of her spotlight scenes. The film also features nice performances from Hey It’s That Guy! Tony Goldwyn and Jon Bernthal (best known in recent years as the Punisher) as prospective coaches for Venus and Serena.

But, seeing as the film is called King Richard, this is definitely Will Smith’s show, and he has the Best Leading Actor nomination to prove it. I saw the movie with my mom, who, unlike me, is a big tennis fan, and she assured me that Smith’s impression of Richard is uncannily good. I don’t doubt that. For me, though, this is a performance I’m not connecting with as well. I don’t think it’s down to any lack of familiarity with Richard Williams, since I’ve liked other biopic performance this year irrespective of how well I know the real people they’re portraying. I’m not sure what it is, but I see this as a very well-executed performance that maybe isn’t for me—not altogether unlike how I felt coming away from The Power of the Dog as a movie.

Warnings

Language (including the N-word,) violence, brief sexual references, and thematic elements.

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