King Richard: a riveting story of prodigy and fatherhood

Will Smith came prepared for this role; the charm and poise he exhibited in Bad Boys For Life, MIB, Fresh Prince of bel-air, had to be replaced with a stiff personality, moulded by poverty, discrimination, racism, and crime. Paired with Aunjuanue Ellis, who plays wife and mother with heartwarming tenderness and dignity, The two portray a beautiful image of black parenthood rarely seen on tv.

Produced and directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green, the inspirational biopic, King Richard, aims to narrate the unpopular story about the rise of the two girls through the lens of their parents, Oracene(Aunjuanue Ellis) and Primarily Richard(Will Smith). While changing the false image, the media presented him in the 90s. [This is no surprise as we continue to see how vicious the sports media can be on players, coaches, and especially people of color].

King Richard_ a riveting story of two prodigies and black fatherhood Pulse Nigeria

While a lot of focus is on Richard's 78-page book plan, the turning point that cements the plot is Richard’s natural and unquenchable instinct to protect his daughters at all costs. However, just how much protection is enough and how much is too much? At some point, After being called out by coaches and his wife, Richard permits Venus and Serena to begin making choices of their own, trusting they make the right ones. And considering their real-time stats of over 122 single titles in total, they certainly did.

Renaldo Marcus Green nails the casting with the girls portraying two of Tennis’s most prominent profiles. Demi Singleton and Saniyya Sidney not only win our hearts with remarkable character portrayal in this biopic but impress us with their detailed tennis skill, sequence and precision, which the cinematography supervised by Robert Elswit flawlessly capture in saturated color.

Not often do we witness two African-American siblings excel alongside one another in a predominantly white sport, but the tale of the Williams sisters proves dreams come true as long as there is belief, hard work and the resilience to overcome any obstacle against all odds; which this Sports/Drama narrates to emotional satisfaction and critical acclaim.

King Richard is in theatres and available on HBO max.

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Israel Olorunnisola is a freelance creative. When he is not writing about Film, Music, TV or Pop culture he is telling stories on Wattpad.

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