King Richard

 Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this sun of Bel Air ...

And that's the extent of my Shakespeare jokes here. So, let's talk about the highly anticipated biopic King Richard, scripted by Zach Baylin and realized by director Reinaldo Marcus Green. 

The King is Richard Williams (Will Smith), who raises his five daughters in Compton with his wife, Brandy (Aunjanue Ellis). His youngest daughters are Venus (Sanjyya Sidney) and Serena (Demi Singleton), who he plans to make tennis pros. His training regimen concerns a busy bee neighbor. But he presses on. 

Richard hires Paul Cohen (Tony Goldwyn) to coach Venus; Brandy secretly trains Serena. Eventually, both sisters get Rick Macci (Jon Berenthal) to coach them. Richard's overparenting doesn't endear him to potential sponsors. His strict regiments nearly threaten his familial relationships. He learns the humility he always preaches when Venus goes up against Arantxa Sanchez Vicario.

Let's talk about the King himself. Smith as Richard is front and center in this court. He's got good motives for his regimented training schedule. We often hear of his ego running wild on the court, though it's barely glimpsed here. What we do see of his ego is plenty. He threatens to desert the girls downtown when he doesn't see them humble enough. He micromanages Serena and Venus's first lesson with Macci. He argues with professionals when they won't let them skip to pro. Still, he deals with gang members coming onto his daughter, Tunde. One of his best moments is when he congratulates Venus for her good game against Vicario.

The King's court is made of plenty of excellent players. Ellis as Brandy is a formidable match with her on-screen husband, especially when she calls him out for his behavior. Sidney and Singleton are excellent as the future tennis pros. Berenthal as Macci is a great professional voice of reason for Richard. The gang members, whose names are in the credits somewhere, are a contemptable bunch. It's somewhat surprising when they pull an about face.

Editor Pamela Martin is the technical MVP here. There's plenty of exciting montages and tennis matches over 145 minutes. A few highlights include Venus defeating a row of sore losers at a club, Richard and Brandy training their girls separately, and the final tennis match. One formidable scene is when Richard contemplates dealing with the gang leader, only for rivals to get there first. Kris Bowers sets these moments and others to a stirring score.

I don't watch tennis often, if at all, but King Richard's court is a good one. It's got a strong title character and formidable supporting players. Its story makes for a captivating, if somewhat long, biopic. This is another excellent choice to watch next Father's Day. But do you know what's great about it being on HBO Max? You can watch it again immediately.