Lisa Johnson Mandell’s King Richard review says you can’t miss with this fascinating account of a complex man, anchored by a stellar performance from Will Smith.

One of the marks of a great actor is the ability to convincingly play a character we can alternately love and hate. Will Smith nails it in his role as Richard Williams, the indomitable farther of tennis superstars Venus and Serena Williams,  a complicated man full of virtues and vices, who in the end, got exactly what he wanted.

King Richard covers a portion of his story—the years when he coached his daughters on broken down courts in Compton, through the beginning of their reign as the world’s most accomplished tennis players.

Richard Williams was a man with a plan to groom his progeny to break world records and boundaries, even before the girls were born. Many of his strategies flew in the face of common tennis practices of the day, but Richard steamrolled over anyone who got in his way.

You watch in amazement as he convinces tennis coach Rick Macci (played by John Bernthal) to train Venus and Serena for free at his posh campus in Florida, and also provide a nice house there for the rest of the family, a job for Richard to support them all, and an RV to drive them across country. He could be audacious and brash, yet at times, also charming and kind.

There are also many details of the Williams’ lives at the time that you don’t see. The most glaring is why weren’t the three older sisters trained to be tennis aces? In the film we see a close knit family of  five sisters who are relentlessly supportive of each other, yet only the two youngest receive training.

I had to turn to Wikipedia to find an explanation for that. The three older sisters were the daughters of the mother, Oracene “Brandy” Williams (Aunjanue Ellis) from a previous marriage, and not born and bred to serve a tennis ball.  Oracine, by the way, has a strong, supportive role in the film, which is good to see.

So yes, there was a lot that was left out, but a film that clocks in at close to two-and-a-half hours is already too long, and what’s included is the result of challenging choices made by talented director Reinaldo Marcus Green (Joe Bell).

All in all, regardless of whether or not you’re a tennis fan, you will be intrigued by Will Smith’s remarkable portrayal of the mercurial Richard Williams, part hero, part huckster, all enigma.

If this King Richard review makes you want to bounce out the the cineplex, get times and tickets at Fandango. Otherwise, catch it at home on HBO Max.

Rated PG-13

1 Hour 26 Minutes

Lisa Johnson Mandell’s King Richard review says you can’t miss with this fascinating account of a complex man, anchored by a stellar performance from Will Smith.