A Movie Review: King Richard

By carolinianweb on April 19, 2022 • ( 0 )

Maggie Collins

Senior Staff Writer

“King Richard” is a movie based on the true story of Richard Williams, the father and coach of famed tennis players, Venus and Serena Williams. It was first released in theaters in November of 2020 and put on HBO Max around that same time, but didn’t take off until December of that year. It is now available to watch on multiple platforms including Hulu, Amazon Prime, HBO Max, Youtube, and more.

In the beginning, you meet the family and see the hardships that they face like living in a rough neighborhood, dealing with segregation, and not having much money. It was truly beautiful to see how his daughters were so happy and appreciative of what they did have, even though it might not have been a lot. No matter what troubles they faced, Richard Williams, played by Will Smith, put his family first. He was hard on his daughters, especially Venus and Serena, when it came to tennis, and he made sure that they practiced every single day.

Richard wanted his daughters to grow up and be the best tennis players in the world, so he started to put his daughters into matches against other girls to try to get offers from coaches. The only daughter that people seemed to be interested in was Venus. She ended up winning almost every match she competed in and was getting offers left and right. There were many times that Richard held off on letting Venus compete and progressing towards playing tennis professionally because he had fears of her having too much pressure.

He made Venus miss out on many opportunities, and not many people trusted his decisions, but in the end, he almost always knew what was right. Serena always supported her sister and was proud of how strong of a tennis player she was becoming, but it was hard for her to live in her sister’s shadow. Eventually, Serena started to get noticed by others and was able to practice with her sister. Richard always told Serena that Venus would be the number one tennis player in the world, but Serena would be the most known and talked about in the world.

This part of the movie stuck out to me the most because it made me realize how I had never actually heard about Venus, but since I was a little girl I always knew Serena to be the most known tennis player. I would always see Serena Williams on commercials playing tennis for brands from pain medication to shoes. Whenever someone mentioned tennis, I always thought of her.

It is inspiring to see a father who was so dedicated to his children and to giving them a better life than he had growing up. The story of their family was motivating in a way that made you want to chase every dream you have ever had. It was a true representation that no matter where you come from, you can do whatever you want if you put in enough dedication and work.

I loved watching Venus and Serena’s story of growing up and seeing all the struggles they faced and how they kept pushing. Now they are two of the best and most famous tennis players in the world. I think that the movie has just enough inspiration, hardships, and laughs for the audience. I was entertained the whole movie and was anticipating what would happen next.

This is the kind of movie that I believe anyone would enjoy. I personally love the game of tennis, because I played it myself, but I feel that you don’t even have to know how the game works to enjoy it. It is truly a good watch for everyone; it gives you motivation to follow your dreams and appreciate what you have.