STRAIGHT OUT OF COMPTON (KING RICHARD)

 

When you think of sports that tend to lend themselves to good feature films, boxing, baseball and motor racing are always in the top three.

However in recent times tennis has started to serve up decent movies.

2017 marked a turning point for depictions of the sport with Janus Meyz's gripping 'Borg vs McEnroe' charting an epic rivalry that has since blossomed into a wonderful friendship. 

That year also saw Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris' amusing 'Battle of the Sexes' which examined Billie Jean King's huge contribution to shattering sexism in the sport.

The rise and dominance of Venus and Serena Williams was another story just waiting to be made for the big screen and it has, courtesy of Reinaldo Marcus Green.

The director first came to prominence when his 2018 racial thriller 'Monsters and Men' with John David Washington made huge ripples at the Sundance Film Festival, capturing a Special Jury Prize for Outstanding First Feature.

'King Richard' sees Green and his screenwriter Zach Baylin tackle the story of the Williams sisters' rise from humble beginnings to the top echelons of the sport through the eyes of their father Richard 

The film charts how his drive helped them become the Grand Slam tournament champions they would eventually become.

Raised in Compton with three step-sisters by Will Smith's Richard Williams and his wife Aunjanue Ellis' Brandy Price, Saniyya Sidney's Venus and Demi Singleton's Serena have natural ability and an intense focus.

However they need nurtured to get to the top ranks of the sport.

At first, Richard and Brandy do much the heavy lifting.

When he isn't working at night as a security guard, Richard drives the girls and their half sisters - Mikayla LaShae Bartholomew's Tunde Price, Danielle Lawson's Isha and Layla Crawford's Lyndrea - to their local tennis court in their neighbourhood and fills a shopping trolley full of balls for Venus and Serena to hit.

Brandy and Richard are as ambitious for the other girls who follow a more academic route and study hard as they aspire to becoming doctors and lawyers.

Tunde, Isha and Lyndrea bring their school books to the tennis court as Venus and Serena practice.

When Tunde endures sexualised jibes from local gang members, Richard confronts them only to take a beating in front of his daughters as they wait in the family VW camper van.

However Richard doesn't let this or a neighbour's criticism of his parenting to deflect him.

He starts to lobby coaches in some of California's elite tennis clubs to take a look at Venus and Serena and help develop their ability.

Blagging his way into a coaching session involving Grand Slam champions Pete Sampras and John McEnroe, Richard persuades Tony Goldwyn's coach Paul Cohen to watch the girls hit a few balls.

Cohen is impressed by Venus' raw talent and takes her on.

While she and Richard attend Paul Cohen's coaching sessions, Brandy works with Serena to help her overcome her disappointment and not lose her love for the game.

And while the focus of Greene's film inevitably is on Venus' trailblazing achievements, there is a real sense that Serena's initial feeling of being overlooked is character forming and will ultimately propel her onto even greater success in the sport.

When Venus is entered for junior competitions, she sweeps aside her rivals and attracts the attention of media and sponsors.

However tensions surface between Cohen and Richard, with the elite coach objecting to her father's interference in the training sessions and his contradictory advice.

Things come to a head when Richard and Paul Cohen meet some agents who offer to take Venus to the next level with a contract promising the best equipment.

Fearing she will be taken advantage of, Richard walks away and insists Venus no longer participates on the junior circuit out of concern that it will burn her out and eventually extinguish her talent.

Flabbergasted by the decision, Cohen splits from the Williams family and Richard instead turns to Jon Bernthal's Florida based coach Rick Macci who flies to Compton to see Venus and Serena.

With Macci bowled over by their ability, the family negotiates the girls joining his stable but the deal includes all of them, with the exception of Tunde, uprooting to Florida and being given a plush house and a decent school to attend.

Richard also insists on Macci resisting the urge to enter Venus or Serena into junior competition.

Will Richard's burning ambition for his daughters and his desire to be across every aspect of their development result in tensions with Macci, Brandy and Venus?

Green and Baylin show great commitment to the telling of the Williams sisters' incredible rise to prominence and the family's key role in that.

Inevitably, though, with Smith producing the movie, it seems like a vehicle for his talent as a leading man.

He turns in a focused performance that is reminiscent of his charismatic Oscar nominated work on Michael Mann's 'Ali' and on Gabrielle Muccino's biopic of Chris Gardner 'The Pursuit of Happyness'.

Richard Williams is very much in the mould of those role model parts that he has excelled in before.

It's a winning performance that will no doubt catch the eye of his contemporaries during awards season.

Although there are moments in 'King Richard' that seem just a little too geared towards landing Smith a first Oscar, with scenes that scream "awards season movie clip!"

If the film is not surprisingly fashioned around Smith's lead  performance, it still has to be said the rest of the cast do a really effective job.

Sidney and Singleton bring a warm and natural presence to the big screen as Venus and Serena.

Ellis is very effective as Richard's first wife Brandy - ensuring her significant  contribution to the five girls' development is not forgotten.

Bernthal is terrific as the extremely supportive Rick Macci who invests his dreams in the development of Venus and Serena but has some real doubts about Richard's role.

Goldwyn does a great job too as Cohen and there's effective appearances from Kevin Dunn as the tennis instructor and commentator Vic Braden, Dylan McDermott as an agent and Jessica Wacnik as one of Macci's prodigies Jennifer Capriati.

Handsomely shot by Robert Elswit and efficiently edited by Pamela Martin, 'King Richard' is a sturdy sports biopic that does not have the visual ambition of Metz's 'Borg vs McEnroe'.

Focused purely on the telling of the Williams' tale, it drives home the sacrifice of families and the relentless focus required to get raw talent in sport, music, writing, the visual arts to the very top.

The film tells that story well and in doing so, it imparts valuable life lessons to anyone with raw talent and big dreams.

It also salutes the dedication of parents who help pursue their talented children's dreams while remaining extremely grounded.

What it demonstrates is that talent is vital to success but it isn't enough.

Nature needs to be nurtured if it is to reach full bloom.

And boy has it bloomed for the Williams sisters.

('King Richard' opened in UK and Irish cinemas on November 19, 2021)

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