I appreciate this film’s effort to tell such a famous story from an unexpected perspective. As a casual tennis fan and huge Williams sisters admirer, I knew little about the role Richard Williams played in their success.
By choosing to centre Richard, as much as it somewhat takes away from Venus and Serena’s much deserved and hard-earned protagonism, it does offer something different from your expected biopic. This raised really interesting questions about fatherhood and young stardom, spending a relatively big portion of the film around the debate of whether Venus should play junior tournaments - as much as Richard planned his children’s whole life for them and worked them so hard a neighbour even had to call the cops on him, here he chooses an unexpected stance by prioritising their childhood and education above entering big level competitions so early on. Therefore, I feel like this is a pretty balanced portrayal of Richard, giving credit where credit is due when it comes to his unwavering belief in his children, his unconditional love for them and vision, but also using other characters like Oracene or the coaches to call him out on his more eccentric behaviours and whenever his ego starts to get the best of him. The final speech with Venus in the lockerroom leads you by the hand to reach the conclusion that he was essentially a good father, but the movie still leaves considerable space for you to make your own judgements and to spark debate on how to raise a prodigy child (or even more complicated- two!). By knowing how Venus and Serena turned out in the end, we also are more prone to siding with Richard, because however him and Oracene raised their children, it looks like it worked because the Williams sisters have had a remarkable journey, whilst remaining humble and giving back.
As much as the screenplay’s highs and lows follow the standard for a big Hollywood movie; as much as there’s not much nuance surrounding the issue of race (with some scenes being forced into the narrative for emphasis, but not quite fitting in); as much as there’s some loose threads that are common with biopics that have to deal with real (messy) lives and real (messy) people and try to force them into a pretty little organised Hollywood picture; this movie still has a lot working in its favour, namely the choice of subject matter, Will Smith’s performance and the excitement that always accompanies sports-related films.
Review by FranBlockedParentSpoilers2022-02-14T11:59:59Z
I appreciate this film’s effort to tell such a famous story from an unexpected perspective. As a casual tennis fan and huge Williams sisters admirer, I knew little about the role Richard Williams played in their success.
By choosing to centre Richard, as much as it somewhat takes away from Venus and Serena’s much deserved and hard-earned protagonism, it does offer something different from your expected biopic. This raised really interesting questions about fatherhood and young stardom, spending a relatively big portion of the film around the debate of whether Venus should play junior tournaments - as much as Richard planned his children’s whole life for them and worked them so hard a neighbour even had to call the cops on him, here he chooses an unexpected stance by prioritising their childhood and education above entering big level competitions so early on. Therefore, I feel like this is a pretty balanced portrayal of Richard, giving credit where credit is due when it comes to his unwavering belief in his children, his unconditional love for them and vision, but also using other characters like Oracene or the coaches to call him out on his more eccentric behaviours and whenever his ego starts to get the best of him. The final speech with Venus in the lockerroom leads you by the hand to reach the conclusion that he was essentially a good father, but the movie still leaves considerable space for you to make your own judgements and to spark debate on how to raise a prodigy child (or even more complicated- two!). By knowing how Venus and Serena turned out in the end, we also are more prone to siding with Richard, because however him and Oracene raised their children, it looks like it worked because the Williams sisters have had a remarkable journey, whilst remaining humble and giving back.
As much as the screenplay’s highs and lows follow the standard for a big Hollywood movie; as much as there’s not much nuance surrounding the issue of race (with some scenes being forced into the narrative for emphasis, but not quite fitting in); as much as there’s some loose threads that are common with biopics that have to deal with real (messy) lives and real (messy) people and try to force them into a pretty little organised Hollywood picture; this movie still has a lot working in its favour, namely the choice of subject matter, Will Smith’s performance and the excitement that always accompanies sports-related films.