“理查德国王”将威尔史密斯作为维纳斯和塞雷娜的父亲放在中场

Stage parents seldom fare well in movies and TV, but "King Richard" bucks that trend, placing Will Smith on center court in an overwhelmingly flattering portrait of tennis patriarch Richard Williams. Smith aces the performance, which is the main attribute in elevating the story above the standard sports-movie conventions.

The film actually follows a fairly concentrated stretch in the formative years of Venus (Saniyya Sidney) and Serena Williams (Demi Singleton) under the watchful eye and tutelage of their father Richard, who speaks frequently of the 78-page plan he mapped out for conquering the nearly all-White tennis world before they were old enough to hold a racquet.

"I'm in the champion-raising business," Williams announces as he makes the rounds looking for a coach, met with dismissive and vaguely racist replies, including "You ever think about basketball?"

Williams can be imperious (hence the title) and overbearing, much to the occasional chagrin of his daughters and wife (Aunjanue Ellis), who is no wallflower when it comes to the coaching chores or speaking her mind.

The portrait that emerges from director Reinaldo Marcus Green and writer Zach Baylin consistently paints him as a heroic figure, protecting his daughters from dangers in the community, stressing their education as well as their ground strokes and working tirelessly to advance their careers, perusing tennis magazines while holding down a job as a night watchman.

Any excesses, such as having the girls practice in a pouring rain, are filtered through that prism. And obviously, Williams' determination to "stick to the plan" paid off handsomely, despite the irritation and exasperation of tennis coaches (the most prominent played by Tony Goldwyn and Jon Bernthal) riled by his refusal to follow the customary script, including his decision to pull Venus out of juniors tournaments.

Smith not only captures the cadence of Williams' voice but the unwavering confidence that he embodied, absolutely convinced that he knew what was best for his girls. It's down the movie's final stretch, as those plans begin to bear fruit, that "King Richard" feels more and more conventional, from the stirring music to the questions of how and when to cash in on Venus' prowess while the younger Serena is left behind, but as we all know, not for long.

Smith (who also produced the film) is receiving a vigorous push for awards consideration, and he certainly nails the role in a way that belongs in that conversation, even if the movie as a whole seems unlikely to join him.

Perhaps foremost, "King Richard" is framed as a response to the criticism and second-guessing that the outspoken Williams faced as his daughters took the tennis world by storm, which might explain why both signed on as executive producers.

Indeed, it's hard to escape the sense that "King Richard" exists in part to let the Williams family set the record straight. And when it comes to giving Williams his due as both a tennis guru and a father, in this case, love means everything.

"King Richard" premieres Nov. 19 in US theaters and on HBO Max, from Warner Bros., like CNN, a unit of WarnerMedia. It's rated PG-13.

“理查德国王”将威尔史密斯作为维纳斯和塞雷娜的父亲放在中场

舞台父母很少在电影和电视中表现出色，但“理查德国王”逆势而上，将威尔史密斯置于中央球场，以压倒性地讨人喜欢的网球族长理查德威廉姆斯肖像。史密斯在表演方面表现出色，这是将故事提升到标准体育电影惯例之上的主要因素。

这部电影实际上是在维纳斯（Saniyya Sidney）和塞雷娜威廉姆斯（黛米辛格尔顿）在他们父亲理查德的监视和指导下形成的相当集中的一段时期，理查德经常谈到他为征服而制定的78页计划几乎全是白人的网球世界，在他们还没有长到可以拿球拍之前。

“我从事的是培养冠军的业务，”威廉姆斯在四处寻找教练时宣布，但遭到了不屑一顾且含糊其辞的种族主义回答，包括“你有没有想过篮球？”

威廉姆斯可能很专横（因此得名）和专横，这让他的女儿和妻子（Aunjanue Ellis）偶尔懊恼，当谈到教练家务或说出她的想法时，她不是壁花。

导演雷纳尔多·马库斯·格林 (Reinaldo Marcus Green) 和作家扎克·贝林 (Zach Baylin) 的肖像画始终将他描绘成一个英雄人物，保护女儿免受社区危险，强调她们的教育和击球，并不知疲倦地工作以促进她们的职业发展，阅读网球杂志同时担任守夜人的工作。

任何过激行为，例如让女孩在倾盆大雨中练习，都会通过该棱镜过滤。显然，威廉姆斯“坚持计划”的决心得到了丰厚的回报，尽管网球教练（托尼·戈德温和乔恩·伯恩塔尔扮演的最杰出的球员）因拒绝遵循惯例脚本而激怒，包括他的决定将维纳斯从青少年锦标赛中拉出来。

史密斯不仅捕捉到了威廉姆斯声音的韵律，还捕捉到了他所体现的坚定不移的信心，绝对相信他知道什么对他的女儿最好。在电影的最后阶段，随着这些计划开始取得成果，“理查王”感觉越来越传统，从激动人心的音乐到如何以及何时在年轻的瑟琳娜离开时利用维纳斯的实力获利的问题落后，但众所周知，不会持续太久。

史密斯（他也制作了这部电影）正在积极推动奖项的考虑，他当然以一种属于那种对话的方式来确定这个角色，即使整部电影似乎不太可能加入他的行列。

或许最重要的是，《理查王》是对直言不讳的威廉姆斯在他的女儿席卷网球界时所面临的批评和猜测的回应，这可能解释了为什么两人都签约担任执行制片人。

事实上，很难摆脱“理查王”存在的部分原因是为了让威廉姆斯家族澄清事实。当谈到让威廉姆斯成为网球大师和父亲时，在这种情况下，爱意味着一切。

“理查王”于 11 月 19 日在美国影院和 HBO Max 首映，来自华纳兄弟，就像华纳媒体的一个部门 CNN。它的评级为 PG-13。