"King Richard" is without question not only one of the best films of 2021 and not to be missed, but one of the best true-story sports films of all time. It ranks up there with "Miracle" about the US Hockey team in the 1980 Winter Olympics and "Rudy" about a Notre Dame student who won the hearts and mind of the football team. This film is a must especially if you're a sports fan. At the same time this is not a "feel good movie" in the entertainment sense. It's a rough depiction of the ups and downs of the Williams' family and their dream of the sisters Venus and Serena Williams to become Tennis champions.
In one of the more intense scenes in "King Richard", Richard Williams (Will Smith in a "he better win the Academy Award" performance), meets with some executives who want to help the young emerging tennis star sisters, Venus and Serena, with sponsorship. One of the executives makes the statement that what Williams had done was extraordinary. Instead of being flattered, Williams takes offense, interpreting that the remark implied it was extraordinary only because he was African-American. However, I think the truth is, it was extraordinary and remarkable what Williams did to nurture the talents of his two young daughters to become two of the greatest tennis champions ever to play the game at the professional level. It is extraordinary regardless of race.
Before I review this film, let's consider some quick statistics: Venus Williams has won as many grand slam singles titles as Andre Agassi and John McEnroe: seven. (Consider that Andre didn't have a younger brother who was a tennis pro, and John's younger brother Pat who did play at the pro level, has as his highest achievement making it to the semi-finals only once in one grand slam.)
Venus' younger sister Serena has won 23 grand slam singles titles, the most in the Open Era and second only to Margaret Court. By comparison Steffi Graf has 22 grand slam singles titles. So between them the sisters have 30 grand slam titles. (The McEnroe's have seven between them, all John's and none from Pat.) The doubles team of Venus and Serena are also one of the greatest doubles teams in the history of pro tennis, winning 23 titles. Is this not extraordinary?
To be fair, it was not just an uphill battle but an arduous climb up Mount Everest, dealing with circumstances people in the tennis world often don't have to deal with which is I think the point of the story. Will Smith as Richard Williams in the performance of his career and Aunjanue Ellis as his wife Oracene Price (the sisters' mother) along with Venus and Serena were not only battling the tennis establishment. They were dealing with the ongoing problems of narcotics and crimes in Compton, CA. In several scenes, Williams has confrontations with young street hoodlums who are also part of gangs.
Williams pushes the sisters to keep working on the craft of tennis. All the while he solicits top tennis coaches and sponsors to support the sisters. While they are unknowns, he is turned away with lots of "good lucks" and "maybe you'll prove me wrong", typical rebuffs. But he keeps working on the establishment. He gets a break when renowned coach Paul Cohen agrees to be a pro-bono coach, but only with one of the sisters, Venus. To allow Serena to reap the benefits of the coaching, Williams devises a brilliant means so Serena can keep up with her sister.
Whether we approve or disapprove of his methods, Williams' plan worked. The film shows us how he devised a plan for Venus which will later help develop her sister Serena into not just champions but basically goddesses of the tennis world. Incredible performances by the whole cast but Will Smith's is a tour-de-force performance. At this writing he won the Golden Globe for Best Actor and is up for an Academy Award for Best Actor and also for Best Picture as one of the producers. Aunjanue Ellis is up for Best Supporting Actress as the sisters' tireless mother.
In one of the more intense scenes in "King Richard", Richard Williams (Will Smith in a "he better win the Academy Award" performance), meets with some executives who want to help the young emerging tennis star sisters, Venus and Serena, with sponsorship. One of the executives makes the statement that what Williams had done was extraordinary. Instead of being flattered, Williams takes offense, interpreting that the remark implied it was extraordinary only because he was African-American. However, I think the truth is, it was extraordinary and remarkable what Williams did to nurture the talents of his two young daughters to become two of the greatest tennis champions ever to play the game at the professional level. It is extraordinary regardless of race.
Before I review this film, let's consider some quick statistics: Venus Williams has won as many grand slam singles titles as Andre Agassi and John McEnroe: seven. (Consider that Andre didn't have a younger brother who was a tennis pro, and John's younger brother Pat who did play at the pro level, has as his highest achievement making it to the semi-finals only once in one grand slam.)
Venus' younger sister Serena has won 23 grand slam singles titles, the most in the Open Era and second only to Margaret Court. By comparison Steffi Graf has 22 grand slam singles titles. So between them the sisters have 30 grand slam titles. (The McEnroe's have seven between them, all John's and none from Pat.) The doubles team of Venus and Serena are also one of the greatest doubles teams in the history of pro tennis, winning 23 titles. Is this not extraordinary?
To be fair, it was not just an uphill battle but an arduous climb up Mount Everest, dealing with circumstances people in the tennis world often don't have to deal with which is I think the point of the story. Will Smith as Richard Williams in the performance of his career and Aunjanue Ellis as his wife Oracene Price (the sisters' mother) along with Venus and Serena were not only battling the tennis establishment. They were dealing with the ongoing problems of narcotics and crimes in Compton, CA. In several scenes, Williams has confrontations with young street hoodlums who are also part of gangs.
Williams pushes the sisters to keep working on the craft of tennis. All the while he solicits top tennis coaches and sponsors to support the sisters. While they are unknowns, he is turned away with lots of "good lucks" and "maybe you'll prove me wrong", typical rebuffs. But he keeps working on the establishment. He gets a break when renowned coach Paul Cohen agrees to be a pro-bono coach, but only with one of the sisters, Venus. To allow Serena to reap the benefits of the coaching, Williams devises a brilliant means so Serena can keep up with her sister.
Whether we approve or disapprove of his methods, Williams' plan worked. The film shows us how he devised a plan for Venus which will later help develop her sister Serena into not just champions but basically goddesses of the tennis world. Incredible performances by the whole cast but Will Smith's is a tour-de-force performance. At this writing he won the Golden Globe for Best Actor and is up for an Academy Award for Best Actor and also for Best Picture as one of the producers. Aunjanue Ellis is up for Best Supporting Actress as the sisters' tireless mother.