KING RICHARD – A Review by Hollywood Hernandez
King Richard is the story of the rise to success of Venus and Serena Williams told from the perspective of their father David Williams, played by Will Smith. Smith does a terrific job portraying the hard-driving father of the two sisters.
Whether you are a tennis fan or not, King Richard tells the story of a man who works his plan to get his family out of the ghetto, and of course, as you know, his daughters work that plan to become two of the wealthiest women in tennis.
Most observers think Richard is crazy, first pushing his daughters late into the night and in the pouring rain to be the best players possible, then after seeing how crazy the other kids are on the tennis circuit, he pulls them back just to enjoy being young girls. When he pulls them out of tennis for three years the media begins to question him and the girls on exactly what is going on.
Richard is far from a perfect parent. First, he gets into arguments with the girls’ coaches, then the media, and finally with his wife Brandi who is played by Aunjanue Ellis. But in the end, Richard, although his daughters often disagree with his decisions, he always seems to make the right move.
This is an inspiring story about a family who loves each other, and it will make you proud of two young girls who simply outwork everyone else to get to the top. Saniyya Sidney plays young Venus and Demi Singleton is young Serena. They bring the two young girls to life and, after a year of tennis lessons, they simply flow on the court in front of the camera.
The movie is rated PG-13 for mild violence and has a runtime of 2 hours and 8 minutes. I loved it! On my “Hollywood Popcorn Scale” I rate King Richard a JUMBO with extra butter (my highest rating).
