I don’t know why, but to me Will Smith was not an actor I’d expect to do well in a serious role. Or, okay, I do know why (even though I had to google his filmography to figure it out): I pretty much only know him from more or less funny (to me often less) and sometimes downright horrid movies (Suicide Squad comes to mind). So I was not exactly anticipating greatness when my brother suggested we go watch King Richard in our quest to watch as many Oscar nominated movies as possible. And while what we got was not exactly greatness, it was very much a positive surprise to me.
Hard to rate movie. Had fun in the cinema because of the well performing actors and its underdog story. But I have to take this with a grain of salt as I find it difficult as to how much the title giving protagonist deserves such glorification. There a few scenes that touch on his bad behaviour but in the end it is shown as well worth it and I’m not sure if I’m a fan of that conclusion. 2,5ish/5
My brother, who kept laughing at me, because I could not remember the rules for tennis, even though I played for several years (and it’s not like he new them either!)
I have, to some extend, agree with my brother. Smith does a great job with his role, his portrayal of the uber-involved, driven father of two daughters with the potential to become stars is captivating and feels very real. There is a certain dichotomy to his character who, on the one hand, clearly wants the best for his daughters, but, on the other hand, goes about this in a way that impacts his family without allowing them much freedom to make their own decissions. And as my brother said, while this pays off in the end, the methods do seem questionable and Richard often intensly unlikable.
Still, a phenomenal performance not just from Will Smith but also the other actors in this biopic. I enjoyed watching it but it’s very much not something I’d ever rewatch nor is it something I’d necessarly recommend unless you are for some reason really interested in Venus and Serena Williams‘ story.
