Venus and Serena Williams have always been household names for their incredible achievements in the tennis world. The stories of great athletes have been portrayed in film for decades, many taking on the same generic formula of the athlete’s rise to the top. Director Reinaldo Marcus Green and screenwriter Zach Baylin decided to rewrite the formula, resulting in a crowd-pleasing and incredible film that tells the story of not only two of the best athletes, but also their father, coach, and mentor Richard Williams.
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King Richard is a fresh take on a biopic that highlights the story of Venus and Serena Williams through the perspective of their father Richard Williams. From the beginning, it is evident that Richard Williams is determined, persistent, and headstrong. He is the type of father who takes his role as Serena and Venus’s tennis coach as his number one priority, even though he has a wife and three other daughters. Through the lens of the film, Richard Williams was an amazing man who taught his daughters to be humble, brave, courageous, and strong, even if the film focuses more on portraying his more likable side for cinematic storytelling purposes.
Will Smith’s performance as Richard Williams highlights the complex layers of a man who clearly loves his daughters but is also committed to making sure they achieve the greatness and respect he feels he never had. Seeing Will Smith in so many films over the years, I was delighted to see him lose himself in this character.
Although the film’s runtime is two hours and twenty-six minutes, the story is paced out well, choosing to focus on Venus and Serena’s upbringings and Venus’s ITF Junior Circuit competition road. Writer Zach Baylin did a fantastic job writing a script that was consistently strong and developed that focused on Richard Williams’ struggle with balancing his daughters’ tennis careers with the role of being a father and husband to the rest of his family.
Add in the racial tension of bringing his daughters up in a predominantly wealthy white sport, Baylin and Green’s willingness to take on a lot in the film without feeling like anything was underdeveloped or glossed over is marvelous. King Richard is a film that many may see and wonder how well Richard Williams was portrayed, given some of his more controversial decisions in real life.
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However, the film is put together so well that it is obvious he had his flaws, but there was no need for the film to primarily focus on them given the story on the flip side was about two incredible women whose skill and passion took them to new heights in the sports world. The film is not only inspiring to athletes everywhere, but also to women and African American women who hopefully felt seen through the eyes of Serena and Venus Williams, and still do.
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