Will Smith in another drama is no surprise but what caught us off guard was how we hated him and his character in "King Richard". This was the rare instance wherein Smith plays a not-so-charming character and his perfomance in this one was a testament to his talent. Unfortunately, we felt that the film was pushing too hard on its narrative that it was all about Richard's "plan" all along that made the Williams sisters the all-time greats that they are.
Even before he met his wife and he had children, Richard Williams (Will Smith) had a plan mapped out. And no one or anything can stop him from achieving it. Specifically, he believes that with proper planning and training, his children will dominate tennis - a sport that has been traditionally closed off to Blacks more so those who have grown up from Compton. Driven by his vision, drive, and belief, Richard does everything to take Venus and Serena Williams from the rough streets of Compton to the global stage as the best there ever was.
"King Richard" felt like any other Will Smith drama film of the past. It's heavy, it has its dramatic highs, and it was a feel-good story overall. Even with its formulaic structure, as a sports and drama film, it was as excellent as it could have been given its narrative limitations. The film featured excellent performances from Will Smith (no surprises here) and the lead cast. Aunjanue Ellis was the biggest revelation for us. Her portrayal of Brandy Price brought in some much needed balance and sanity to a film featuring a character who was impulsive and self-centered to a fault. We hated Richard Williams in this film and its actually one of the reasons why we felt that the film came off as too manufactured. His character was unlikable in our opinion and we're not fans of biographical films that twist things too much to the good side. When it came to actual tennis, we found "KLing Richard" was able to properly portray and capture the essence of tennis quite well. Overall, "King Richard" pushed an agenda too much tto a fault but there's no denying that it featured award-worthy performances and the right amount of drama to thrill audiences.
Rating: 4 reels
Why you should watch it:
- this is the rare instance wherein you'll villify a character of Will Smith
- this was paced well and there was never a boring moment from start to finish
Why you shouldn't watch it:
- we're not really into the dad-centric approach making Richard Williams seemingly the main arhcitect for the Williams sister's success
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