Yep, the movie that enabled the slap heard 'round the world. Now I would see whether Will Smith even deserved his Oscar in the first place. OK, that didn't cross my mind when I selected the film; I remembered only that it was one of the more esteemed Academy Best Picture nominees I hadn't seen yet.
In the early '90s, Compton father Richard Williams (Smith) starts looking for a renowned tennis coach for preteen-to-teen daughters Venus (Saniyya Sidney) and Serena (Demi Singleton) despite lack of funds. He finally persuades Paul Cohen (Tony Goldwyn) and later Rick Macci (Jon Bernthal) to take on Venus, while Serena has to settle for practice with mother Brandy (Aunjanue Ellis). You probably already know that both go on to huge success. But as the title implies, Richard is awfully domineering, which gets him locking horns with just about everyone.
No, he's not like Mahavir in Dangal. Venus and Serena never complain about their workload, unlike the neighbor who calls CPS; they really do want to go as far as possible. But Richard has a detailed plan and a great reluctance to deviate from it, no matter what anyone says. I have to wonder why he even bothers with coaches if he's sure he knows better than they do.
I do not consider Richard abusive. He never unwelcomely touches, insults, or yells at any family members; he reserves violence for thugs who threaten them. At worst, he starts to exact questionably harsh penalties until someone talks him out of it. Brandy feels a religious obligation to defer to her husband, which explains why he gets his way so much, but she also indicates that if not for their children, she would separate from him. Oh, and he pays little specific attention to his three stepdaughters, tho that could just be for narrative convenience.
I'm sure Richard's upbringing was conducive to his behavior. While we witness no unambiguous racism in his life (the talk of a disadvantaged background could be strictly economic in focus), he sure is paranoid about it, especially in the wake of the Rodney King beating. His spoken grammar doesn't suggest a high level of education. I don't blame him for taking the opportunity for greatness very seriously, not least when it could open doors for his race in general. I might blame him for calling too much media attention to himself in his effort to advance Venus.
Near as I can tell, the tennis played on screen is indeed skilled, at least by later matches. (I find it one of the more watchable sports, tho I never got any good at it.) No surprise that two actual pro players are involved: Ayan Broomfield as Sidney's occasional stand-in and Marcela Zacarías as Arantxa Sánchez Vicario.
Anyway, Smith does a decent job. I could just about forget it was him. Of course, when I didn't forget, I couldn't help comparing what I knew of his real life these days.
Having seen none of the other Best Actor nominees of the year, I can't rate the choice yet. All I can say is that KR did a pretty good job for a sports flick at maintaining my interest for 145 minutes.
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