Written by Andreas Babiolakis

We know you’re watching King Richard for Will Smith and Will Smith alone, and Will Smith as the Will Smith we all know and love (and not the Will Smith who may say a little too much about his personal details whilst on his latest book tour) you shall have. On that topic, I feel like my snide remark may be a part of the problem. The Will Smith we know now is marred by a public image of a guy who just is trying to be the best father and husband, and help his kids realize that their potentials are limitless (much like Richard Williams in this biopic). When we get down to brass tacks as Smith as an actor, the guy is actually quite strong in a Tom Hanks kind of way, and I feel like that aspect of the thespian gets lost amidst the media hysteria. Again, I am a hypocrite for the way I opened up this review, but it’s also important to know how Smith is perceived now, and what reminders you’re going to have once you are done watching King Richard.

Stripped entirely of his usual on-screen magnetism and relying entirely on his deeply rooted naturalism, Smith turns Richard Williams into a well intentioned paternal figure with his own bag of issues, and Smith doesn’t shy away from them either. The film doesn’t entirely try to justify the worse parts of Williams’ nature, but instead the reasons for his toughness (to ensure that his kids don’t wind up within drug rings or murdered in the ghettos). Richard is famously connected to tennis legends Serena and Venus Williams, and I’ve seen enough people bring up the audacity of a film about the success of two powerful women being based on their dad. I get that curiosity, but at the same time I see King Richard being more focused on the father as a person alone, and not only the successes of his daughters through him (although, let’s be honest, there is a bit of that as well). It’s a damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don’t kind of scenario: had the biopic just been about the Williams sisters and Richard was a side note, we’d be wondering “why aren’t we seeing more of this interesting character?”. Then again, them’s the breaks when it comes to conventional biopics anyway, with the reliance on the obvious and a sprinkling of what we’d like to get to know more of.

Yes, Will Smith does a good job here. It’s why you’re reading this.

The film itself places us in Compton with Richard pushing his kids (included are the other Williams siblings and their academics) and having to answer his heavy-handed love to his wife. A number of opportunities come, and Richard either indulges them for a bit before changing his mind, or shuts down these calls entirely. He sees something from the outside, and makes these risky decisions with his kids’ interests at heart (whether he is right or wrong). He doesn’t really get penalized for his choices, even if they are made audaciously, so in this way King Richard feels like a two and a half hour long love letter to a guy with many layers (and we only get to experience the more interesting goodness in small morsels). It’s so difficult to not talk about Will Smith here, because there’s a reason why he is sold as the primary promotional purpose: he is the guy carrying a decent film towards being watchable, especially during the awards season. Otherwise, the film is as standard as can be, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing (but you won’t be getting any surprises). In a film this basic and borderline sterile, it is Smith that injects enough heart that you may temporarily buy into the sports film tropes, and for this alone, I think Hollywood needs to finally see this side of the actor again and consider placing him into the dramas he was clearly born to star in.

Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Ryerson University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.