Will Smith plays one of his best roles as the father of tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams: Oscar favorite “King Richard”.
The German movie poster for “King Richard” shows a close-up of Will Smith together with Saniyya Sidney and Demi Singleton. A cheerful family trio, only a cut tennis racket gives a hint of a sports film. It’s a star poster like a thousand others. The US poster, on the other hand, tells a little story. The two girls have made themselves comfortable in a shopping cart full of green tennis balls, Smith pushes him from behind, he really does his best for the children. In front of a soft yellow background, the three almost seem to get lost, the more closely you look.
Gone may be the days when a visit to the cinema started with looking at posters and showcase photos, but it’s nice how much love is often still in them: “Will Smith in King Richard” stands tall, like in the blissful days , when Hollywood saw itself primarily as star cinema.
The film behind it is all that and much more: a challenging character role for Smith as the father of later tennis superstars Venus and Serena Williams. A sports film in which the American dream lives on as a natural consequence of fame that comes with sweat (although father Williams, in his never-ending ambition, never forgets that blood and tears also come with it). A family film that TV stations will still be able to program on Father’s Day decades from now (the mother played by Aunjaune Ellis is unfortunately only a supporting character).
Above all, however, it is a film about a class system that is still strongly determined by skin color in a traditional middle and upper class sport. And the utterly unwavering rebellion of a modern-day Don Quixote, so sure of himself that he doesn’t even realize he’s fighting windmills. The talent of the older Serena, who is the main focus here, will sooner or later make the gatekeepers capitulate in this expensive competitive sport.
In fact, the unbroken heroic story of a perfect father and hobby manager of brilliant young athletes would hardly be enough for a two and a half hour drama. The line between encouragement and abuse is blurred in a man who has abandoned his children miles from home for discipline. Of course, the fact that the Williams sisters co-produced the biopic themselves means that no reckoning can be expected. But as much as success proves a man right, who even drives the hard-won star coach Paul Cohen (Tony Goldwyn) to insanity with his teachings – one is undoubtedly dealing with a madman.
Ageless boyishness
It probably takes an actor who, like Smith, is gifted with an excess of ageless boyishness to nevertheless suspect good forces behind this narcissist. In fact, it’s his best role since another major biopic about the society-changing power of a competitive athlete, Ali.
Director Reinaldo Marcus Green not only keeps an eye on the main character’s ambivalence. It is a highly concentrated work that never tires over the long term, a picture of the 90s and an inside view of the world of an unrestrainedly commercialized competitive sport. While recent events at the China Winter Olympics have once again raised awareness of the abuse of children in competitive sports, success stories are equally valid. This portrait of a father who devotes his life entirely to the expectation of success directed at the children’s talent does not become frozen as a heroic story.
American cinema is rich in images of patriarchal family fathers, whose often unfulfillable pressure of expectations is mostly reflected in their relationship with their sons. It is unusual to hear such a story about the perfectionism of a father and his daughters. At the same time it is a classic portrait of a maverick, a pioneer and loner-turned-dictator. In fact, it is the daughters’ growing self-confidence that prevents things from getting worse. One is amazed at how nuanced the changing balance of power is pursued. King Richard was nominated for six Oscars, including Smith and Best Picture. Director Reinaldo Marcus Green is not one of them, but a star director is born.
King Richard. USA 2021. Director: Reinaldo Marcus Green. 144 Min.
