King Richard (5 Stars)

Serena and Venus Williams are the best female tennis players of all time. It's obvious that a documentary or biopic about them will be made at some point. Probably both. But this film takes a different path. It tells the story of their father, Richard Williams. Was he a genius? A madman? Divinely inspired? Based on the film, he was a mixture of all three.

He was a prophet. When he saw Virginia Woolf playing on television he said that he would have two daughters who would become tennis champions. Does that sound mad? Venus Williams was born on 17th June 1980, and Serena Williams was born on 26th September 1981. Two girls, so the first part of the prophecy came true. Now for the hard work. When they were four he began to train them at a public tennis court. He was a hard teacher. Whatever the weather they had to play every evening, even in the rain. It wasn't just about sport. He insisted that they should get top grades in school.

Richard didn't have an easy life. He lived in Compton, California, in a small house with his wife and five daughters. Venus and Serena had to share a bedroom with their three older sisters. He was lucky that he only had girls, or the house wouldn't have fit. His faith as a Jehovah's Witness was important.

Richard knew that he couldn't do everything himself. The film begins when Venus is 11. He keeps ringing tennis coaches, getting on their nerves, telling them that he has two tennis prodigies who need help. That must have sounded mad to anyone who picked up the phone. One tennis prodigy, maybe, but two? Richard kept pushing. He found a coach, Paul Cohen, willing to train Venus for free. To make up for Serena being neglected, he filmed all the training sessions and sent the films for Serena to follow the instructions at home. Is it that easy? Only for a brilliant divinely inspired madman.

The film ends with 14-year-old Venus playing her first professional match against Arantxa Vicario, the world's number one seed. After leading in the first two sets, Venus eventually loses as a result of her poor nerves. Despite her loss, her performance on the court makes her a world star. And the rest can be left to a future biopic about Venus and her little sister Serena.

Success Rate:  - 1.3

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