"King Richard" is a bit like Tom Hanks's "Finch" before, the plot is not grand and magnificent, the ups and downs, but as an old drama bone, Will Smith is steady and steady, choosing a role that suits himself most for interpretation, in addition to the obvious education and inspiration, the film also conveys a very positive message about family dedication, respect for people and so on.
It may not be a perfect movie, but I believe that Will Smith's performance in this film is enough to make him a strong contender for the Oscar for best actor next year, let's wait and see.
Will Smith is also a regular Oscar (in fact, not very regular), in 2007 he was nominated for that year's Oscar for his performance in "When Happiness Knocks", and the Oscar's Wannian Little Plum was also nominated for "Blood Diamond", but eventually the best actor was taken away by Forrest Whitaker of "The Last Dictatorship".
Prior to this, in 2002, Will Smith's "Ali the King of Fighters" was also nominated for best actor, but that year, Denzel Washington won the crown by beating many people including Russell Crowe of "A Beautiful Mind" with his good and evil performance in "Training Day".
The Oscars of 2022, that is, the period from 2021 to the beginning of 2022, can be said to be the frozen year of Hollywood movies, although there is no shortage of big productions, but under the influence of the epidemic and the drag of the plot, the whole Hollywood is not in a recession, so that until now, I can't even choose the top ten in 2021.
And "King Richard" may be regarded as Will Smith's third attempt to impact the Oscar for best actor.
The director of this film is unknown, and Will Smith is also the producer of this film in addition to starring, and it is conceivable that in his capacity, he will play a role in the production of the film.
Throughout the film, this film is almost a film tailored for Will Smith, not only has the emotional display he once held well, the depth of Richard Williams's role in the film, but also beyond the level that the male protagonist of the general work can show, he is somewhat paranoid and confident, sometimes humorous, sometimes stubborn, he sometimes ignores the feelings of others, but also really for the growth of his daughter and painstaking...
As I said, it may not be a perfect script, but for Will Smith, it is a work that shows his acting charm and has the strength to hit the Oscars.
Let's go back to the film itself and see Howl Smith's interpretation of the character.
As a half-sports inspirational, half-biographical film, the most important focus of this film is undoubtedly the word "education".
Richard Williams had a terrible father, which prevented him from getting ahead, and living to be such an old man was only a "neglected black man", but he was determined to create a better environment for his next generation, including focusing on the education of his first few daughters, including creating a complete "growth plan" for his two newborn daughters.
It's a bit like parents who didn't get into Tsinghua forcing their children to go to Tsinghua, but Richard did a lot more, he studied the growth of various tennis players, systematically trained his two daughters from an early age, and also actively sought out coaches who could teach high apprentices, and carried out his own plans step by step (even if they didn't have money), which is an execution that most parents don't have.
We can imagine how much sneering he would receive because of his identity, skin color, and whimsical plans on his way to the coach with the video of his two daughters (in fact, even if we as viewers still feel that Richard is a little too idealistic when we know the general ending), but he silently endured, so the father's efforts are not just as simple as shown in the film, not just training during the day, going to work at night, Not only do they stand in the middle of their daughters and when they know they can't beat them, but there are many, many paths that are paved silently.
Education is not just "tennis training", but to make daughters, no matter what industry they are engaged in, to become an excellent person. At this point, I think Richard's realm is very high (I don't know if the real Richard is the same), I think of some young stars at the moment, good looking (at least in the eyes of some people), but in terms of knowledge, even as a normal person to treat people and things, it is unbearable to look at. And insisting on learning is to let Williams, in addition to playing tennis, will not spend his life in a fog, but in the wave of money, he can stick to his own direction.
This kind of education is also the only way to "class jump", and I often feel that Richard's education is too harsh in the film, but as he said, living in their neighborhoods, if there is no such strict education, then his children are likely to be infected with various vices at a young age, so that generation after generation will never be able to emerge, and can only continue to become the bottom of society. The Richard family, even if the gifted Williams is not left behind, the remaining daughters are good enough, even if they can't be rich, at least in the future can have a good life.
Although the educational methods are slightly inappropriate, at least from the perspective of the ending, it is still good.
However, what makes a character really move is not just his ideas, actions, and ideas, but his growth throughout the film. Richard, as a big character, even has several changes in concepts.
One is to promise Venus's appeal to let her participate in professional competitions at the age of 14, you know, this father who is based on the principle of "sticking to the plan" is sometimes very stubborn, but when he realized that all this needed his daughter to make her own decisions, he gave some decisions to her daughter, such as participating in the competition, such as deciding whether to sign an advertising treaty.
Another is the change in his blindness to his wife's dedication, and it has to be said that even if this huge plan was indeed written and implemented by Richard, his wife also played a huge role in the support of the family in silence, including a period of time when the coach trained Venus, his mother trained with Selena, and Richard's ego made him largely ignore his mother's dedication.
In fact, Richard has been divorced three times, and the part of the film and Price is his second marriage, and the two gave birth to Dawei and Xiaowei in this marriage (the other three children were before Price remarried), and this marriage was terminated in 2002. After that, Richard, who was nearly 70 years old, married a little girl in his 30s, and even gave birth to a child, cough, and the process of old cows eating tender grass is not specifically described here.
All in all, it was a good biographical film, with Will Smith giving a deep and multi-layered performance, which ended after David's participation in the official competition, because the elder Richard could not afford to continue training his two daughters after this, and it is said that he empathized with photography and became an old mage.
If you watch this film with an inspirational mentality, you may be a little disappointed, after all, although it is a growth story of Big and Small Wei, Richard's character has captured almost all the light, and he is confident to the point of almost some self-absorbed personality, but it is a good footnote for the king in "King Richard".
I wish Will Smith success this time.