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| Wait. Wrong King Richard |
I was leery about KING RICHARD going in. It’s about the Williams sisters and yet the focus is on the dad. And it stars Will Smith who wants an Oscar more than Wile E. Coyote wants the Road Runner, and every year he stars in another prestige movie holding the Acme rocket launcher. And every year Leo DiCaprio gets the nomination. Beep beep!
This year, however, I think he’s going to get it. In KING RICHARD he gives his best performance and carries this movie to victory. Although 2 1/2 hours, it managed to hold my interest. Unlike LICORICE PIZZA, I don’t think I could cut out a half hour that easily. KING RICHARD is a very standard biopic telling a linear story, but it works. And along the way there are some terrific scenes. You don’t have to love tennis to enjoy this movie. Yes, it has that Hollywood studio feel-good “dreams can come true” pouring out of every frame of celluloid, but you know that the story is real. And feels authentic. There’s no RICARDO trickery where events are made up to accommodate the narrative. Venus doesn’t win Wimbledon at twelve.
Kudos to director Reinaldo Marcus Green and screenwriter Zach Baylin along with everyone in the cast. Among the many standouts: Aunjanue Ellis, Saniyya Sidney, Demi Singleton, and Jon Bernthal. But everyone was terrific.
This is the kind of movie you don’t need to see in a theatre. It’s tennis matches not epic space battles. Your living room will be just fine. But I recommend it. Will Smith turned me around. The Road Runner is in trouble this year.
from By Ken Levine
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