King Richard

The Green Knight. The Last Duel. King Richard. When did Medieval stories become fashionable again? What do you mean it's not medieval? It is a period piece right? It's set in the 90's? What? Sure that's only a decade ago. How could that be a period piece? ......... wait...... have the Williams sisters been around that long??? Good god.

Compton, Los Angeles. But not the one we've seen onscreen before. The O-Dog's and Doughboy's of the world are just background noise here. The only sound that matters is the scuffle of trainers on a tennis court. The whoosh of an ace. The thwack of a ball hit home. Venus (Saniyya Sidney) and Serena (Demi Singleton) Williams are practicing. They're 11 and 9. We know what's ahead of them and so does their father/coach Richard (Will Smith). He has a plan for them and neither he or them is going to deviate from it. He's stubborn and bullish but he loves his daughters and they reciprocate it because they know he has their best interests at heart. This is their story.

Well no, it's his story and they get a look in. It's going to annoy some people but the sister's are producers here and if they've given it their ok they must be happy with it you'd imagine. It is a well made, beautiful looking film, bathed in that lovely California glow we all know so well and built around a towering performance from Will Smith. The suave, cool guy Smith persona is nowhere to be seen. The heartfelt, Oscar bait acting he does so well is almost entirely absent, almost. His Richard feels real, you can feel his love for his family, his belief in them, his pain when things don't go to plan for them. His his his. As good as it is it's all about HIS. His decisions. His ideas. His choices. A film charting the rise of two of the most famous African American athletes on the planet and at times they seem incidental in their own story. It's feels strange. You'll watch, you'll smile, you might cheer but you'll have this nagging feeling that something about it just seems off.

What works really works though, Saniyya Sidney as Venus nails the part, her joy and fear, her skill on the court in the moments when the camera isn't focusing on her father. Aunjanue Ellis as her mother Brandy does quietly powerful work as the less obnoxious half of the coaching team and the only person on the planet who can get the better of Richard. Two moments of hers stand out, one in a car and the other in a kitchen and both of them will wow you. Like the film itself, neither are flashy but they stick. Despite knowing how things end up for Venus and Serena the film strives to avoid cliche, wins are kept lowkey or sometimes offscreen, training montages are non existent and the stock story beats you'll expect to see happen in a sport story occur but without the trite sickliness you'd usually get.

With so much going right in the film it feels shitty to moan but this is a story that should have been a three hander, with Venus, Serena and Richard all sharing the spotlight equally. They certainly earned it. But they've also earned the right to tell their family story the way they want to as well. 

King Richard is in cinemas everywhere now.