11/19/21 – PG-13 – 2h 24m – Warner Bros

Alan: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Michelle: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

King Richard is the story of Richard Williams implementing his plan to train his daughters  Venus and Serena Williams to become tennis champions.

Michelle: I love films about sports legends. King Richard is an uplifting story of a family’s dedication to nurturing and developing talented children. Since we know that Serena and Venus Williams are tennis stars, I was a bit worried about a movie about them focusing on their father.  However, the story is about how Richard and Brandy Williams help their daughters navigate the path to becoming tennis professionals. No matter how much raw talent a child has, if the family doesn’t provide the right amount of support without pushing too hard, the child won’t be able to compete against those who have good support. The film shows how the Williams family supported their talented black children in the all white world of tennis and succeeded.

Alan: I always say that sports films are my least favorite genre, but then I end up loving every single one that I watch. King Richard is no exception. The father strikes such a delicate balance between pushing his daughters to be the absolute best, and protecting his daughters from too much pressure to win. That seems like such a difficult story to tell, but writer Zach Baylin walks that line beautifully.

Michelle: King Richard was written well, yes. It also had great acting, directing, editing, and was entertaining, inspiring, fun, and informative. My two children loved it, too. Five stars.

Alan: This was a long movie, but I was engaged with it the entire time. It was a great story and an absolute knockout performance by Will Smith. Five stars.