“King Richard” Movie Review

Story posted November 29, 2021 in

“King Richard” is an inspirational sports biopic that takes watchers through the trials and tribulations of a man trying to do right by his daughters.

The biopic centers around the tennis legends, Serena and Venus Williams, and the role that their father, Richard Williams, played in helping them achieve their success.

The movie shares beautiful depictions of healthy relationships within the family especially between Richard Williams and Venus Williams.

The choice to focus on the birth of Venus Williams’s tennis career over the, now, more well-known Serena Williams was a unique decision that lets viewers take in a less familiar storyline.

Viewers who didn’t grow up watching the Williams sisters play will have the opportunity to experience firsthand the feeling of watching them grow as players. The film includes direct quotes from interviews and conversations that took place as well as an interesting perspective on a real-life match.

The film takes the route of following Richard Williams’s character as he tries to protect and nurture his daughters into full success because it is, precisely, all a part of his plan.

While staying true to the essence of Richard Williams, the film includes occasional dialogue revolving around race. Racial dialogue is an important aspect of the film. Not only does it provide the context of the magnitude of the task of entering professional tennis as Black young women, but it also avoids making the conversations feel displaced or forced.

It is also of utmost importance to mention the acting in this film. “King Richard” is debatably one of Will Smith’s best performances and can withstand comparison between him and the real-life Richard Williams. Considering the film releases this year it wouldn’t be a shock if Will Smith receives another Academy Award nomination for this role.

Jon Bernthal as Rick Macci was also a spectacular surprise and explores the true range of the actor as he plays a character who is the complete opposite of his usual ones. Watching his act as Macci will be a treat for those who are familiar with his work.

Ultimately, the only true problem with the movie is the length and some of the scenes.

The run-time was slightly longer than necessary with its many tennis sequences, but it certainly served its purpose to dramatize the events, throwing a curveball each time to not feel repetitive.

In the direction of cinematography, all of the scenes were beautiful, however, some of the shots included were unoriginal and took away from the story. It would have been nice to see shots that amplified the feeling of the tennis matches so that watchers could understand the full power of the moments shown.

Looking back at the presentation of the movie, it is a much-needed work and hopefully, its release encourages a wave of more movies that center on healthy relationships in Black families and normalizes movies about Black success.

Overall, the movie will likely do well in comparison to other films dropped this year and will be taken in as part typical sports movie and part biopic.

Rating: 3/5

Erell Williams is a first-year majoring in broadcasting journalism. To contact her email exw5303@psu.edu.

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Erell Williams

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Erell Williams is a first-year student, and her intended majors are Broadcasting Journalism and Chinese. She grew up in Douglassville, Pennsylvania. She is a member of the CommRadio News and Arts department. To contact her, email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).