The man who would be king

Arguably, an origin tale centered on two outstanding athletes (Saniyya Sidney and Demi Singleton are fantastic as older sister Venus and Serena, respectively) should have been named after them — not the father. But King Richard is more focused on the complications of being a dad — and Richard is not without his flaws. Not only arguing with wife Oracene (Aunjanue Ellis) about how hard to push his girls, but also his tendency to get beaten up by Compton youths who don’t dig his pedantic ways near their hoops court. And not only his insistence on forcing homegrown tennis “theories” on professional coaches (among them, an exasperated Jon Bernthal), but his propensity for hucksterism, selling his image and making side deals whenever possible when the girls’ careers start to take off.

And perhaps Williams was trying to live out his own dreams of success vicariously through at least two of his offspring (you can almost sense Smith here, calculating how each girl in his household will rise to his expectations). Having seen a number of toxic sports parents in recent documentaries (HBO’s Tiger, etc.), the father here comes off as less opportunistic and more driven by a one-track focus on success, which the film makes clear is a very narrow pathway out of Compton, and indeed anywhere else in life. Whether or not you have questions about pater Williams’ methods, you can’t dismiss the results. His relentlessly positive slogans (“If you fail to plan, you plan to fail”) may cause Venus and Serena’s eyeballs to roll upwards on occasion, but they do follow the path that Richard lays out, and their wins are as he has predicted all along.

Directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green (Monsters and Men) with an autumnal glow, you might think it’s a fairy-tale story — indeed, life is always more complicated than that — but the stats bear it out: Venus and Serena became world-beaters, and father knew best all along.

Will it be King William crowned at this year’s Oscars? In King Richard, multiple nominee Will Smith plays Richard Williams, father to the legendary tennis-star sisters, Venus and Serena.

Williams is a controversial character, not always dad of the year, but determined to steer two of his talented kids out of Compton and straight to the top. A bit more grit and shade than usual is required of Smith in this uplifting real-life tale, where a father with no tennis background is dead-set on having two of his six(!) promising girls gain a professional trainer and aim for the big tournaments.

Arguably, an origin tale centered on two outstanding athletes (Saniyya Sidney and Demi Singleton are fantastic as older sister Venus and Serena, respectively) should have been named after them — not the father. But King Richard is more focused on the complications of being a dad — and Richard is not without his flaws. Not only arguing with wife Oracene (Aunjanue Ellis) about how hard to push his girls, but also his tendency to get beaten up by Compton youths who don’t dig his pedantic ways near their hoops court. And not only his insistence on forcing homegrown tennis “theories” on professional coaches (among them, an exasperated Jon Bernthal), but his propensity for hucksterism, selling his image and making side deals whenever possible when the girls’ careers start to take off.

And perhaps Williams was trying to live out his own dreams of success vicariously through at least two of his offspring (you can almost sense Smith here, calculating how each girl in his household will rise to his expectations). Having seen a number of toxic sports parents in recent documentaries (HBO’s Tiger, etc.), the father here comes off as less opportunistic and more driven by a one-track focus on success, which the film makes clear is a very narrow pathway out of Compton, and indeed anywhere else in life. Whether or not you have questions about pater Williams’ methods, you can’t dismiss the results. His relentlessly positive slogans (“If you fail to plan, you plan to fail”) may cause Venus and Serena’s eyeballs to roll upwards on occasion, but they do follow the path that Richard lays out, and their wins are as he has predicted all along.

Directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green (Monsters and Men) with an autumnal glow, you might think it’s a fairy-tale story — indeed, life is always more complicated than that — but the stats bear it out: Venus and Serena became world-beaters, and father knew best all along.