King Richard movie review: Will Smith and Aunjanue Ellis shine in this tale of the making of the Williams sisters

3/5

Story: In the late 80s, Richard Williams began training his daughters – Venus and Serena – to play tennis at the Compton Club. The goal was to make champions of both of them. But that was going to be easier said than done, because tennis is an expensive sport and getting the right coach is difficult, especially when you are looking for a free option. But Richard tirelessly pursued coaches to lend him an ear and see his daughters play, which, as we all know, paid off really well eventually.

Review: King Richard, the story of how Richard Williams tirelessly trained and groomed his daughters, Venus and Serena, to be among the best tennis players the world has ever seen, released in theatres in India, along with RRR, so, it was no wonder that it didn’t create a lot of buzz. To make matters worse, lead actor Will Smith’s slapgate took the sheen away from his Oscar win for playing Richard.

Available to stream now on Amazon Prime Video, King Richard is about how Richard Williams and his then wife Oracene ‘Brandy’ Price trained their daughters Venus and Serena with the single-minded focus of making champions out of them. The goal for the family was always clear, as was the path leading to it, which Richard reckoned could not come at the cost of Venus or Serena’s happiness or the likelihood of either of them burning out before their peak.

Much as he wanted his daughters to be champions, Richard was always clear that their education and well-being was paramount, so, after setting them off to a brilliant start in the junior level, he decides to pull his kids out of competition, until such time that he deemed they were ready to play at the professional stage. They had to enjoy being kids too; a plan he set in motion after getting Venus and Serena into Rick Macci’s academy and moving the entire family to Florida.

King Richard, according to Serena, is the most accurate account of her father’s life as her and Venus’ coach. A man who worked them hard, because he did not want to have them live a life of hardship as he had. It is also just as much about his parenting and instilling the importance of humility, no matter the level of success one achieves. The film is not a biography, but captures a significant chapter in Richard’s life, as he went from coaching his girls during the day, to working his job at night, to ensuring everyone took note of the fact that he had not one but two champions in the making. In fact, the film ends with Venus’ professional debut, which didn’t go too well for the then 14-year-old, but kicked off a journey that the world will remember forever.

Verdict: So, Will Smith got an Oscar for Best Actor playing Richard Williams, and truth be told, I wondered why, especially since Aunjanue Ellis was just as good as Brandy and was only nominated for Best Supporting Actress. Will, was, no doubt, brilliant as Richard, but did he knock it out of the park and deserve an Oscar? Well, that’s debatable, because the film itself feels a little over-rated for all the praise it got. The film is a one-time watch, at the most.