Michael's Movie Grade: B
A well made and engrossing biopic.
More than a sports movie or an underdog story, this film is a character study of a complex character. I honestly don't watch sports at all and before this movie was only familiar with Venus and Serena Williams through seeing TV commercials. If you were to mention Richard Williams to me, I would have thought you were talking about the animator. Because of this I have no idea how truthful or fact based this depiction of Richard Williams is, but I know I found him a really fascinating character. While this movie paints him as a good man, it does not ignore any of his flaws. In fact often they are often front and center. In these moments you can get frustrated or even infuriated with him but never so much as to make him too unlikable. There were times I wish the film could have delved deeper into the darker ramifications of how he tried to run and plan out these two girls lives, but that would have made a very different movie. This film does a lot to make sure that we understand where he is coming from on each of his decisions, right or wrong and it is because of this that we become emotionally involved in the story. Adding to this character is an excellent performance by Will Smith. Will Smith is often known for playing fairly one note characters that don't allow him to stretch his acting range. However this film shows that he is a really good actor and that given the right role he can turn in a great performance. However he is not the only performance that makes this movie, Saniyya Sidney as Venus Williams is also excellent. Even at a young age and with a brief filmography, Saniyya has already had quite a film career under her belt having also appeared in such critically praised movies as Hidden Figures and Fences. Her she turns in an extremely fine performance that adds a lot of emotion heart to this movie. In the ending scene you can see just what a good actress this young girl is.
This movie's climatic tennis scene is an excellent example of suspense filmmaking. By cutting back and forth from the game to scenes with Venus' family, director Reinaldo Marcus Green creates a very engaging sequence that will even keep those who (like me) find sports boring rooting for Venus.
On the downside this movie is much longer than it needs to be and it can drag at times. As much as this film lets us get to know Richard, Venus and Serena, the other characters can come off as bland and boring, even the other siblings.
While far from a perfect movie, this is a delightful biopic and character study with truly great acting.
No comments:
Post a Comment