King Richard (2021) Movie Review

King Richard tells the story of tennis legends Venus and Serena Williams. But instead of telling the sisters’ story, King Richard tells the story from the vantage point of their father, Richard Williams. Richard (Will Smith) and Oracene “Brandy” (Aunjanue Ellis) are married and have five daughters. They run a tight ship and don’t tolerate any funny business for their daughters. Each of them is expected to do well in school and stay out of trouble. But Richard has other plans for two of his daughters, Venus (Saniyya Sidney) and Serena (Demi Singleton). At one point he says he drafted a plan for their lives as soon as they were born.

Richard is nothing if not persistent. We witness him trying to get coaches to train the girls, but no one wants to work for free. Richard is at several disadvantages. The first and most obvious is that he’s black. This is the early 1990’s during a heightened time of race relations after the police brutality of Rodney King super charged things in Los Angeles. On top of that, tennis was a decidedly white sport. Several times throughout the movie Richard remarks on the fact that they are the only black people at some of the tennis matches. The second setback for Richard is that the Williams’ aren’t wealthy. To get serious coaches and trainers, you have to have a lot of financial capital. Scores of coaches refuse to work with the girls because they don’t want to do it for free.

Much of the first part of the movie involves Richard trying to get coaches to see the potential of Venus and Serena. There is a lot of doubt about the girls’ abilities and Richard seems to be the only one who sees their potential. That is until Paul Cohen (Tony Goldwyn) agrees to help get the girls ready for Juniors — the matches that prep young players to go pro. Richard’s personality and determination shine through and he frustrates every coach the girls work with as he tries to control aspects of their training.

Then Richard makes the controversial decision to pull Venus out of Juniors. He’s worried about Venus getting into trouble with drugs or losing herself under the constant pressure and expectations. Richard is constantly preaching that Venus should have fun and be allowed to be a kid. Richard finds a new coach in Rick Macci (Jon Bernthal) and the whole family moves to Florida to train at Macci’s facility. We watch as a young Venus makes her way to the pros in a nontraditional route. We also see how Serena is forced to take a back seat while Venus forges the way for both of them.

King Richard is your typical sports movie with plenty of action montages as Venus and Serena hit countless balls on the court. Sidney and Singleton both give performances worthy of respect. But it is not their story, it’s Richard’s. And Will Smith delivers one of his best performances to date. He adopts Richard’s unique talking voice and his mannerisms don’t resemble Will Smith at all. He disappears in the role completely and you can’t help but focus on him in each scene. Richard was personality-galore in real life, often being outspoken to the press and displaying funny antics while being court-side. Smith mimics Richard perfectly while simultaneously making him likeable and empathetic. He was a father who fought tooth and nail to give his daughters the opportunities they deserved. He defied expectations and persisted through countless moments of adversity.

Of course, Venus and Serena are the true talents here and they have both carved out amazing careers outside of their father. But King Richard shows their lives before the world knew the names Venus and Serena. When they were just kids in Compton who wanted to make their dad proud. This is Will Smith’s movie all the way. And he gives a performance worthy of a championship. 

You’ll like this movie if:
1. You’re a tennis fan
2. You love Venus and Serena Williams
3. You like motivational and inspirational sports movies