King Richard combines a lot of things I love; Tennis and Will Smith being the chief traits amongst them. However Richard is also a biopic, which time and time again fall far too often for me into trappings of cliché and over-sentimentality, aswell as an unfortunate cookie-cutter sensibility leaving much to be desired. Thankfully this is certainly not the case with this new film from director Reinaldo Marcus Green, that follows the tale of the Williams sisters in their earliest years in the Tennis world. King Richard is a vibrant, intriguing, entertaining and very compelling film that has an awful lot going for it and shoots Will Smith right to the front of the Oscar race, and more than deservedly so.
The story of the Williams sisters as they came alive in the world of competitive tennis is a rather easy one to make into a fun and entertaining film, however time and time again from its direction, to its script, to what it chooses to focus on, King Richard and chiefly it’s director Green make the more interesting choice. Years of media imput have framed many of these figures in certain ways and for as much time as the film and Zach Baylin’s great script spend dismantling some of these notions, much time is spent interrogating the truths of certain facets of these notions on the people. Baylin’s script throughout actually manages to combine the genre trappings of both biopic and sports film, whilst also making this above all else a deeply heartfelt and beautifully composed family drama, about the working class experience of a black family in America and all the struggles within of that, and of course all the struggles and triumphs of navigating making a ‘better’ life than the one you’ve been handed, chiefly here in this film making a better life for your children. Green works here with Academy Award winning cinematographer Robert Elswitt who gives the film a grit in its realism and a powerful tension and entertainment value in its Tennis sequences. All in all the film is a very well made feature, however it really does strive whenever its chief ensemble is on screen.
The performances in this film are all sensational, to say it as it is, I can’t really think of a lesser performance, only actors and characters that have been given less to do. I’ll speak now of the chief five performances, however all around there are joys and gems in the other aspects of the film, not the least to mention Kevin Dunn, Tony Goldwyn Dylan McDermott as the entitled, some helpful, some seriously not, figures that the Williams family must navigate through before they find themselves in the comfortable hands of Jon Bernthal as the very loveable and hilarious Rick Macci. The film has a lot of genuine familial realistic humour peppered throughout, but once Bernthal arrives, a lot of genuine hearty laughs occur when it’s the least expected, giving the film just the right amount of levity and zip to take us to the finish line. At the core of the film are two brilliant child performances from Saniyya Sidney and Demi Singleton as Venus and Serena Williams respectively. The whole family dynamic works very well and chemistry is very palpable, but when these two are on screen you really are in for a treat. But the true stars of the film are without a doubt Aunjanue Ellis and Will Smith as Richard and Brandy Williams, the mother and father of the iconic Tennis stars. Both Smith and Ellis scene after scene balance a drama, a relationship tension and a deep, boundless heart of pain and troubles that make this biopic so much more than a saccharin farce of tear-jerking scenes. When the tears come here, they’re true and earnt. Smith is without a doubt delivering the best dramatic performance of his career and delivers a lot more nuance and a lot less showiness that one might first aspect of this actor in this role in this sort of this film, with such a clear eye to Oscar possibility, and it is this nuance and wealth of drama that leads his performance to be one of the best of the year. Only further bolstered as aforementioned by the incredible work of Ellis beside him in the majority of the film’s best scenes.
An exhilarating 8/10 drama that packs an awful lot into its running time that for me flew by. Green directs Baylin’s direct and informed screenplay with a visual vigour that thrills its audience. However the films greatest triumph is undoubtedly it’s stellar ensemble of performances, with Smith leading the course in the titular role giving us the best dramatic work of his career, but backed at all turns by a wonderfully diverse set of talents, with the intense drama of Ellis, the comedy and charm of Bernthal and the wonderfully empowering and plainly delightful turns of Sidney and Singleton. It’s an all-round crowd pleaser and a lot more than your average biopic that my dad would enjoy on a plane in a year or so. However that being said, my dad will very much enjoy this film, on a plane or otherwise, in a year or so or otherwise.
P.S. Also I am a big fan of making fun of the outrageously self-righteous power ballads with increasingly generic titles that swamp the Best Original Song category at the Oscars, recent nominees including; Speak Now, Hear My Voice, Fight For You, Stand Up, I’m Standing With You, I’ll Fight and Stand Up For Something. All blandly titled, blandly written, basic pop ballads with powerful messages at the heart of them leading them to Oscar nomination (and sometimes win) glory. However to put it frankly Queen B pulled it out the bag and Be Alive by Beyonce is a sensational closer and should win the Oscar and is to put it plainly a banger, as the kids like to say.
- -Thomas Carruthers
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