Sisters Venus and Serena Williams took the tennis world by storm in the 1990s, both becoming superstars in a sport not typically identified with African-Americans. They had a dominant vibe and attitude all their own, always aggressive, brimming with confidence. Their parents Richard Williams and Oracene "Brandy" Price were there to lend their support for their every game. This film tells the story of how Richard brought up his two champions.
Despite having to contend with the dangers in the violent streets of Compton, California, Richard Williams always believed that he had two tennis champions in his house. He worked tirelessly and fearlessly to get the training they needed to get ahead in their game, and actually succeeded in getting them trained by Paul Cohen (coach of John McEnroe and Pete Sampras) and Rick Macci (coach of Jennifer Capriati).
Richard worked his daughters very hard when training them, which bothered some of his neighbors. But he also emphasized that they have to always be humble when they win. He was very concerned about the possibility of his daughters getting burned out early in their youth, and made the controversial decision to pull them out of Juniors tournaments even when they were on a roll, and even if this brought him in conflict with Cohen and Macci.
Richard Williams seemed to be a strict, closed-minded father and coach. He was pushy and demanding while promoting his daughters to various coaches, yet he would interfere with the coaches' training style when they clashed with his. However, Will Smith's goodwill as an actor rubbed off on his portrayal of Richard, making him look like the ideal father. There could not have been a better choice of actor who can make irritating quirks seem charming.
As Brandy, Aunjanue Ellis made for a strong mother figure, generally supportive of Richard's high-flying plans, but unafraid to voice out her opinions to the contrary. 15-year old Saniyya Sidney had to learn how to play tennis first to play Venus, and nailed the on-court action and off-court drama required of her. Tony Goldwyn and Jon Bernthal played top-notch tennis coaches who were too good to be true in tolerating Richard's rather rude intrusiveness.
The story was well-ironed out neatly to showcase the main subject Richard in a flattering light, Venus and Serena as well. Everyone was respectful and obedient, agreeing to watch "Cinderella" to learn a life lesson, cool well kept in the face of obvious gamesmanship (by Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario no less!). This biopic by Reinaldo Marcus Green is very well-made in the old-fashioned sense, everything seemed too perfect to be true. 7/10.
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