by A.J.
Best Pictures #78: 2021 (94th) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee
“No, brother, I got the next two Michael Jordans.”
The great thing about sports movies is that you don’t have to understand or even like the sport to enjoy the movie. It helps that most sports movies, at least the better ones, aren’t really about sports but focus on their characters, fictional or real. King Richard is a biopic not really about tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams, but about their father, Richard Williams and how he struggled, hustled, and charmed a path for his daughters into the world of professional tennis. Overall, this is a good story with interesting characters because both are real. Richard’s story is of course a part of Venus and Serena’s origin story, but I was caught off guard by just how little Venus and Serena feature in this movie.
It helps that Richard is played by Will Smith in his best role giving his best performance in a long time. Richard is a big personality and Smith puts his winning on screen persona to work making Richard confident but not arrogant, determined but not obdurate, charming but not cloying. This is not a warts and all portrayal, but it fits the tone of the movie and is satisfying nonetheless thanks to Smith’s solid performance. Venus and Serena’s mother, Oracene 'Brandy' Williams (Aunjanue Ellis with an Oscar nominated performance), has some substantial and memorable scenes that elevate her role beyond the stock “wife and mother” archetype and make clear to the audience her contributions to Venus and Serena’s training.
Richard works nights as a security guard and spends nearly every available moment taking his daughters to the local tennis courts in Compton, where they are harassed and Richard receives beatings periodically from gang members. His other available moments are spent trying to find a professional coach for Venus (Saniyya Sidney) and Serena (Demi Singleton). His pitch is very good, but getting someone to coach two kids for free, and to do it Richard’s way, is a hard sell. The Oscar nominated screenplay by Zach Baylin makes it clear that convincing tennis pros is only part of the challenge. As you might imagine, the Williams’s stand out in the predominantly white and upper class world of tennis. Certain people in the professional circuit seem supportive at first but it becomes clear they see the uniqueness of the Williams sisters’ race, not so much their talent, as a novelty they can exploit.
King Richard is certainly a step above the typical inspirational sports movie or biopic, true or not, about persevering and overcoming obstacles. It is not formulaic in a paint-by-numbers way, but it follows a familiar pattern. The movie does get repetitive at times with Richard charming then clashing with one trainer, Paul Cohen (Tony Goldwyn) then the next, Rick Macci (Jon Bernthal), and the scenes of training and training. Richard holds back on letting them enter the professional circuit after seeing how kids burn out and break down from the pressure and stress of the tournament cycle. It’s the right decision, but we’ve seen them train and know what they will later accomplish so there is not much tension to the tennis match scenes later in the movie.
If you're like me and know little of the world of professional tennis, you probably, like me, know that Venus and Serena Williams are regarded as two of the greatest and most accomplished athletes in their sport. Richard was right, and that’s not a spoiler. I’ll be honest, King Richard is the film I keep forgetting is nominated for Best Picture. I don’t mean to say that the film itself is forgettable or bad, actually it's pretty good, but unlike its subjects it is not especially outstanding. If King Richard earns Will Smith a Best Actor Oscar that will be the most memorable thing about it.
Nominees: Tim White, Trevor White, Will Smith, producers
Director: Reinaldo Marcus Green
Screenplay: Zach Baylin
Cast: Will Smith, Aunjanue Ellis, Saniyya Sidney, Demi Singleton, Jon Bernthal, Tony Goldwyn
Release Date: November 19th, 2021
Production Companies: Westbrook Studios, Star Thrower Entertainment, Keepin' It Reel
Distributor: Warner Bros.
Total Nominations: 6, including Best Picture
Other Nominations: Actor-Will Smith; Supporting Actress-Aunjanue Ellis; Original Screenplay-Zach Baylin; Editing-Pamela Martin; Original Song-"Be Alive" music and lyrics by Beyoncé, Dixson
No comments:
Post a Comment