According to Plan

Unfortunately, some hunching aside, "King Richard" is no Shakespeare, but rather a no-stakes, and no real setbacks or lessons learned, for that matter, sports biopic concerning the father of would-be tennis star sisters Venus and Serena Williams. At least in live sports, usually, there's drama inherent in not knowing the outcome. One would have to have been living with their head under a rock for this century, though, to not know that this story has turned out successfully as far as tennis celebrity and endorsement-deal riches are concerned. Which is fine, but "King Richard" doesn't tell us anything different than that. Dull stuff this is, everything going according to plan--the formulaic rags-to-riches tale. Peppering in a few holier-than-thou speeches on parenting, racism, or what have you from Will Smith at his most actorly doesn't help. At least we saw him working hard and have some real obstacles to overcome in "The Pursuit of Happyness" (2006).

The scene with the most dramatic tension in the entire overlong nearly two-and-half-hours generic affair happens very early when one of Richard's other daughters (y'know, the other girls hanging around the other two sisters and that the picture manages to otherwise almost entirely ignore) is harassed by gangbangers, but, deux ex machina, the problem is solved almost as soon as it got going, and it turns out the Compton street watchers who turn up in their place are just looking out for the benefit of the Williams family. After that, things really get boring. A nosy neighbor to be told off, coaches with opposing strategies, a marriage held together only by parental dedication, Nike offering only three to four million dollars, and the least suspenseful dilemma of the whole picture, will Venus and Serena succeed fills out the rest of the picture. Never mind that we never do see Serena fully succeed despite the long runtime--just the obligatory text before the concluding credits to inform us of the happily-ever-after ending we knew already.

Also, this is a movie about African Americans overcoming barriers--at least that's talked up as a big deal in the movie--but even in this respect there are so few obstacles shown to be overcome. The biggest ones are told by Richard like parables for his daughters. A movie that tells its best parts instead of showing them. Would've been nice to know about that son he apparently and the movie definitely ignore, but, nope, we're only told about him once, too, so as to supposedly progress the plot. In one scene, the police even show up to their house for a welfare check, but nothing happens besides more Smith speechifying. They see Rodney King beaten on TV, but it's not demonstrated to have any bearing on their lives.

Tennis just isn't that cinematic, either, at least it isn't here. That's not only because I'm not a fan of the sport; that doesn't stop boxing from being the most photographically dynamic of such physical contests. The complicated scoring structure and elite, country-club nature is a drawback, but otherwise it's merely a ball being hit back and forth over a net with rackets. So, we get a camera that cuts back and forth between long shots with occasional close-up inserts to show how that back-and-forth has affected the player. Not much different than what one might see watching the matches on TV. And, "King Richard," overall, would've made more sense as a TV movie instead of overrated Oscar bait to regretfully attract my attention. Maybe if one followed the ball with the camera or danced around like the players, we'd have something, but nothing so unexpected happens here. Everything rigidly goes according to plan. That may make for a fulfilling life, but it doesn't make for an interesting movie.

What a tedious film-within-the-film and post-screening discussion, too, for "Cinderella" (1950) and how it's about being humble or some such twaddle.