In 1994, ABC's John McKenzie interviewed rising tennis star Venus Williams, who was fourteen years old at the time. At one point in the interview, McKenzie asked Williams if she thought she could beat her opponent. "I know I can beat her," she replied. McKenzie, surprised at her confidence, asked how she could say it so easily. This is when the interview was interrupted by Venus' father, Richard, who (despite McKenzie's protests of his interruptions) ordered him to "leave that alone" and remember that McKenzie is dealing with a child and that he should "let her be a kid."
That defensive tirade is recreated basically verbatim in King Richard, the biographical depiction of Richard Williams raising Venus and Serena Williams to become two of the biggest tennis stars in the world against incredible odds. There's a clear reason the scene is included: the media was often adversarial to the Williamses, Richard in particular. As Alex Abad-Santos put it, "to understand the animosity and media pressure the Williams family experienced, you have to understand how insular tennis is and how that environment magnified the classist and racist attacks thrown their way." That's not hyperbole. An editorial in the LA Times said at the time that Richard was "failing" Venus as a father. Four years later, tennis legend Martina Navratilova praised the Williams sisters, but then also attacked their father for "getting in the way," while also claiming "there's no racism as far as I know" in tennis, a sport with a long history of racism.
King Richard takes direct aim at the media's portrayal of Richard Williams over the years. From the Williamses' point of view, their father was protecting them. The Richard Williams we see here is played by Will Smith and is a loquacious and determined father, frequently citing his enigmatic "plan" he drafted that outlines the path he's chosen for his girls, and yet he frequently (with numerous yet subtle racial undertones) is rejected by skeptical potential coaches for Venus and Serena, his daughters and future superstars. When he's not in their presence on their fancy tennis courts, he's in danger back in his neighborhood, beaten and disrespected by young criminals who prey on his daughters. Maybe he is a bit too cocky; his confidence is met with rejection from one group and danger from another.
But Richard won't quit. He finally convinces a successful coach (played by Tony Goldwyn) to coach Venus. This coach will only agree to train one of the girls for free, so Serena has to remain in her sister's shadow (for now) and continue practicing with her mother, Oracene (Aunjanue Ellis). As Venus continues to climb, Richard aims higher, signing a lucrative contract with coaching legend Rick Macci (Jon Bernthal). In other sports biopics, one or both of the Williams girls would be the main focus of the film; in King Richard it firmly remains on the patriarch of the family.
Smith has taken a more sympathetic and appreciative view of Williams than many others have, telling NPR's Tonya Mosley that Williams was "the father that used love, and he aligned with what they wanted for their lives." Audience members may or may not see it that way. His stubbornness is not hidden, and with Richard, everything is a lesson, whether it's his threat to make them walk home if they brag too much or his threat to make them watch Cinderella again if they don't give him what he believes is the true moral of the story. Undoubtedly, King Richard is a full-throated defense of parenting styles that have high expectations for children and push them hard. And yet the film makes clear that Richard is someone who is wholeheartedly obsessed with making sure his daughters are not pushed to their limits or burned out; he is absolutely determined that education comes before sports, and they must be allowed to live as children. Yet his antics lead critics to deride him as being in it for the money and leading a one-man "Richard Williams Show."
This is the first time in a long time that Smith has garnered so much attention for a performance, and to be frank, it's also the first time in quite a while that he's been this good. He is absolutely engrossing as Richard Williams. Ellis as Oracene Price is also exceptional, offering further proof of the film's exceptional casting choices. Yet as good as Smith is in King Richard (and he is good), it's the scenes between Richard and Venus and Serena that are the film's highlights. The two actresses playing Venus and Serena (Saniyya Sidney and Demi Singleton, respectively), both of whom have been acting on screen for the past few years, are naturals.
King Richard works on a variety of levels: as a story of a determined father, as a story of girl power, as a rags-to-riches story, and as an entertaining sports flick. Like a lot of great sports films, King Richard, with Reinaldo Marcus Green's direction, Pamela Martin's editing, Kris Bower's score, and Robert Elswit's cinematography, knows how to keep its audience in suspense. Yet much of the tension, surprisingly or perhaps unsurprisingly, comes not from the moments on the tennis court but instead how Richard and his family constantly negotiate and even walk away from lucrative opportunities if they are not part of Richard's plan. These scenes might be the ones that keep you on the edge of your seat.
What might have come across initially as the story of an overbearing, borderline abusive father is instead an homage to how he and his wife guided their daughters with surgical precision from sharing beds in Compton through constant recitation of his platitudes and on to eternal glory. It would be fair to criticize the biased view the film takes (the Williams sisters are, after all, producers of the film), and yet it's a forgivable slight. This is one of the best films of the year.
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