My Review of KING RICHARD: Starring Will Smith & Aunjanue Ellis

 

As evidenced by my love for film and theatre and TV, it may not come as any surprise that the artistic interests leave me feeing rather cold towards the sporting world. I never wanted to play sports or watch sports. The extent of my sports interest mainly began and ended with watching the Winter and Summer Olympics.

That isn't to say that I would then hate any artistic endeavor that delves into sports as its main selling point. Movies like Cool Runnings or Rudy are both highly entertaining and enjoyable even if they may have their mawkish moments...particularly the latter.

A movie like Hoosiers was simply great and felt very fresh for a sports-formula film...and there are certainly other ones out there that I would give solid ratings.

So no, I don't automatically hate sports movies...and I don't hate King Richard. I just don't love it.

I wouldn't even necessarily say I liked it. I felt it was fine.

Just...fine.

King Richard is the story of the early years of famed Tennis superstars and sisters Venus and Serena Williams...but it is really about their father Richard. played by Will Smith.

While living in Compton, Richard and his wife Brandi (Aunjanue Ellis) seem to be pushing their children to better themselves as opposed to turning to a life on the street. Richard is someone who knows what he wants, pushes his children hard, and despite all of the frustrating and controlling qualities, it all comes down to his love for them in the end.

I understand that both Venus and Serena Williams have given this film their blessing and that they have a lot of love for their father, but I still think the framing around Richard makes this film feel very isolating and it diminishes a lot of the power and the achievements that these two absolutely remarkable athletes were able to accomplish.

You get the sense by the end that all of Richard's erratic behavior and his controlling nature were worth it because he got his two daughters where he felt they belonged...and also, as the script says: "This is the only way to get out of the ghetto".

So...by this logic...does that mean someone like Joe Jackson's incessant abuse of his sons doesn't matter because it gave birth to The Jackson 5 and later on, the King of Pop himself?

Does Rose Hovick's infamous stage mother persona towards her daughters June and Louise (AKA Gypsy Rose Lee) get erased since they found success?

And to comment on the "ghetto" line, does this imply that just because families who live in these poorer communities who may not have the means to practice at something or have the right connections are suddenly lazy and worthless or criminal?

I mean, that is a very Republican stance right there. Hell, Ronald Reagan would probably be delivering another speech about welfare queens if he could.

Framing the film around Richard was a bold though not exactly successful choice in my book. I wanted more from Venus and Serena with smaller doses of Richard...but instead, I felt distanced from those two when I wanted a lot more.

The film also makes a not surprising though rather cold Hollywood decision to seemingly disregard the achievements of other well-known African-American Tennis players to act as if the Williams' sisters were the first to make such a splash.

For example, the film completely ignores Zina Garrison who was a runner-up at 1990 Wimbeldon and a double-Gold medalist at the 1988 Seoul Olympic games.

I am not saying that this should be a competition of who came first, but considering the kind of narrative that the film was taking, I think it is off-putting to ignore someone who had such a strong profile at the time as Zina Garrison.

So, before I end this, I want to comment on the two best things about the film and that would be Will Smith and Aunjanue Ellis.

Smith is a good actor...though I don't know if he necessarily challenges himself enough. He does seem to get strapped into films with horrible scripts and he does tend to fall for failed "Oscar Bait" material. 

Here, I would actually argue that despite some issues with Richard's accent at times, this is one of his better performances though I actually think he was probably better in the overly sappy 2006 film The Pursuit of Happyness (and yes it was spelled that way).

Smith is already getting a lot of acclaim for his performance and some are even going as far as to say this could be the year he nets not just an Oscar nomination but a win. 

While I can't speak as to whether or not that would be worthy as I haven't seen a lot of the big contenders yet, I feel like he could make for a potential worthy nominee but a win probably wouldn't be feasible...though this hasn't stopped from much lesser performances winning Oscars: Sandra Bullock in The Blind Side, anyone? 

The person who stole the film for me was Aunjanue Ellis who played wife and mother Brandi. Ellis isn't exactly a household name but she has done good work on such projects as HBO's Lovecraft Country and especially in the brilliant Netflix miniseries When They See Us.

Here, Ellis may be playing the cliche archetype of a supporting/somewhat suffering wife that is often popular in Oscar races but she manages to be lively, invigorating, strong, and steals pretty much every scene she is in.  

I would definitely support her getting a nomination and would even go as far to say she would be a worthy candidate for the win. We will see how that turns out because that category, along with Lead Actress, are shaping up to be very competitive this year.

So let's wrap this up:

King Richard was an odd film that seems prime to be a success with audiences and it seems a lot of critics are enjoying it too. I can see why it has appeal to some, but I kind of left it feeling like it was a missed opportunity.

Thanks to the power of Smith and Ellis, I will be giving the film an extra half star rating.

RATING: ***/*****