Will Smith, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor and Jon Bernthal in the Reinaldo Marcus Green movie ‘King Richard’

Fierce determination for a just outcome in realizing talent against cultural obstacles brings us to the tennis world today. Dramatization of the role Richard Williams, Oracene ‘Brandy’ Price and their family experienced in aiding the rise of tennis players Venus Williams and Serena Williams as successful tennis players is the subject of the movie King Richard (2021).

(From left, Will Smith as Richard Williams and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor as Oracene ‘Brandy’ Price in the Reinaldo Marcus Green movie King Richard).

The Reinaldo Marcus Green directed movie King Richard focuses heavily on the role Richard Williams, as portrayed by Will Smith, had in parenting his two biological kids with Oracene ‘Brandy’ Price to elite levels in women’s tennis. Price, married to Richard through the period considered by the movie, was portrayed by Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor. Williams was single-minded in raising Venus and Serena to be tennis players with as many level-setting advantages as they could get, which included efforts to steer his two biological and at points his three step daughters away from unhelpful elements in their Compton, California neighborhood. Saniyya Sidney and Demi Singleton portrayed Venus and Serena Williams, respectively.

(From left, Saniyya Sidney as Venus Williams, Will Smith as Richard Williams, Demi Singleton as Serena Williams, Tony Goldwyn as Paul Cohen, Christopher Wallinger as John McEnroe and Chase Del Rey as Pete Sampras in the Reinaldo Marcus Green movie King Richard).

While Brandy and Richard were skilled tennis players in their own right, there were thoughts that coaching from professionals with influence in professional, or amateur leading to professional, coaching would be better. This led Williams to bring his young daughters Venus and Serena to a practice Paul Cohen was administering for a pair of professionals on the men’s tennis tour. Cohen, portrayed by Tony Goldwyn, would agree to coach only one of the sisters for free. Venus received the professional coaching as Serena would be coached by Brandy, her mother.

(Five daughters lived in the home of Richard Williams and Oracene ‘Brandy’ Price at the beginning of King Richard. From left, Mikayla Lashae Bartholomew as Yetunde Price, Layla Crawford as Lyndrea Price, Saniyya Sidney as Venus Williams, Daniele Lawson as Isha Price and Demi Singleton as Serena Williams were portrayed in the Reinaldo Marcus Green movie King Richard).

An eventual disagreement over the personal effect that participating in tournaments, as Cohen recommended as the eventual means of the Williams daughters becoming professional, that led to drama within the tennis playing and human upbringing of the Williams sisters. Connecting to Rick Macci, as portrayed by Jon Bernthal, led the family to Florida for training. The strong wills of Rick Macci and Richard Williams would conflict frequently, yet a significant beauty of the King Richard landed for me in how this and the eventual results for the Williams‘ girls were portrayed for the family and in actual life.

(From left, Will Smith as Richard Williams and Jon Bernthal as Rick Macci in the Reinaldo Marcus Green movie King Richard).

The underlying humanity and nuance in the King Richard story worked really well. Credit for this in part rests with the screenplay of Zach Baylin, along with the production of Will Smith and the direction of Reinaldo Marcus Green. Having enjoyed the biography, the sports content, the humanity and the performances of Will Smith and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, I give Reinaldo Marcus Green‘s King Richard 4.25-stars on a scale of one-to-five.

Matt – Saturday, June 3, 2023

Matt Damon, Christian Bale and the film ‘Ford v Ferrari’

It was avid car aficionado in the form of Lynn‘s West Virginia uncle who turned me on to the biopic film about the 1966 automobile race 24 Hours of Le Mans. This particular film, and the facts underpinning it, tells the story about the stranglehold that the Ferrari brand had on the race at the time as well as the battle Ford had in becoming relevant there for a four year stretch beginning in 1966. The film that addresses this contest is Ford v Ferrari (2019).

(From left, Matt Damon as Carroll Shelby and Tracy Letts as Henry Ford II in the film Ford v Ferrari).

The crux of the film starts around the time that the Ford Mustang as a vehicle was introduced, with Ford owner Henry Ford II (as played by Tracy Letts) making an overture to Ferrari owner Enzo Ferrari (as played by Remo Girone) to acquire the motor company owned by Ferrari, and being soundly rebuffed in a move to increase the sales price to Fiat. This led to a courting by Ford of Carroll Shelby (as played by Matt Damon) and Ken Miles (as played by Christian Bale).

(From left, Stefania Spampinato as Enzo Ferrari‘s English Translator and Remo Girone as Enzo Ferrari in the film Ford v Ferrari).

The means of being rebuffed by Enzo Ferrari opened, or perhaps revealed, an emotional rivalry between he and Henry Ford II that revealed some interesting dynamics in the way Ford was operated as a company. Lee Iacocca, as portrayed by Jon Bernthal, brought Carroll Shelby into the Ford company when Henry Ford II demanded engineers and money into the company to have the wherewithal to compete with Ferrari at Le Mans.

(From left, Jon Bernthal as Lee Iacocca and Corrado Invernizzi as Franco Gozzi in the film Ford v Ferrari).

The compelling notion of what worked in the movie Ford V Ferrari was first the racing story with the fortunes of two automobile companies at the center of it. Also there were the personalities within Ford, with Shelby and Miles as clearly outsiders to the corporate culture of the larger company. Iacocca was a bit of a middleman between that culture and the work getting done by Shelby and Miles.

(Josh Lucas as Leo Beebe in the film Ford v Ferrari).

Josh Lucas as Leo Beebe was the face of that corporate culture, and in many ways vilified for his role in how the 24 Hours of Le Mans came to a resolution in 1966. There was natural tension in his trusted role in Ford and the natural conflict that arose in holding the Shelby / Miles team to an account that also reflected on the public face of what Ford wished to project. Said another way, a story of Ford v Ferrari was the means for how mean with well-defined senses of self worth worked together. This came into play as well between Shelby and Miles, the both of them and Beebe, and the full lot of them and Henry Ford II with Iacocca in the middle. Ken Miles and his wife, Mollie Miles as portrayed by Caitriona Balfe, had their own form of intrigue as shown in Ford v Ferrari.

(From left, Caitriona Balfe as Mollie Miles and Christian Bale as Ken Miles in the film Ford v Ferrari).

I found the movie Ford v Ferrari both entertaining and interesting. There’s history in the telling, despite some clear fictionalized dramatization included for the sake of the telling. The fiction offered something that worked for me in this case, though there are some muscle car folks that might not agree. I rate Ford v Ferrari at 3.75-stars on a scale of one-to-five.

Matt – Wednesday, July 15, 2020

Viola Davis, Colin Farrell and the film ‘Widows’

Thanks to the British mini-series Widows (1983-1985). That 7-episode series inspired the film featuring an ensemble cast in modern-day Chicago, Illinois. The plot follows four women attempting to steal $5 million from the home of a prominent local politician to pay $2 million to a local crime boss. The women’s husbands were killed in a botched getaway attempt from that local crime boss. The film that resulted is Widows (2018).

(Screenwriter Gillian Flynn left, and Screenwriter/Director Steve McQueen of the film Widows).

Writing credits for the film go to director Steve McQueen and writer Gillian Flynn. The film opens with the depiction of a $2-million theft from a crime boss aiming for Chicago alderman named Jamal Manning. Manning (portrayed by Brian Tyree Henry) and his brother Jatemme (as portrayed by Daniel Kaluuya) are the initial crime victims who give Veronica (as portrayed by Viola Davis) the ultimatum to return the cash set on fire in one month’s time.

(Daniel Kaluuya as Jatemme Manning, left, and Brian Tyree Henry, right, as Jamal Manning in the film Widows).

The heist gone wrong was established by Harry Rawlings, as portrayed by Liam Neeson, husband to Veronica. The spouses Linda (as portrayed by Michelle Rodriguez), Alice (as portrayed by Elizabeth Debicki), and Amanda (as portrayed by Carrie Coon) died in the fire. For a significant portion of the film, it was presumed that Harry Rawlings had also died and left a book depicting his past crimes for Veronica to use for extortion purposes following his presumed passing.

(Liam Neeson as Harry Rawlings and Viola Davis as Veronica in the film Widows).

Unable to gain a meaningful extortion from the criminal past of her husband, Veronica convinced Linda and Alice to participate in the detailed heist left behind by Harry Rawlings. Alice, under coercion by her mother (as portrayed by Jacki Weaver), enters almost immediately into an exclusive sexual relationship for money. The arrangement leads to the acquisition of plans used to execute the theft planned by the widows. Alice recruits a fourth of the widow heist in Belle, as played by Cynthia Erivo. Amanda as a new mother, and in a extra-marital relationship with Harry Rawlings, chose not to participate in the heist.

(Michelle Rodriguez as Linda, left, and Elizabeth Debicki as Alice in the film Widows).

The home that Veronica and three ladies were do to rob was the home of current alderman of the eight ward of Chicago, Tom Mulligan (as played by Robert Duvall). Mulligan is a corrupt, bigoted, gruff old politician beset with the political sense of a criminal politician that expects and gives loyalty. Mulligan’s son, Jack, is running for alderman against crime boss Jamal Manning, and is complicit in the graft of his father. Jack Mulligan and Tom Mulligan have differing views for how to run Jack’s campaign for alderman, yet aims to keep the family (and his son) relevant to Chicago politics.

(From left to right, Carrie Coon as Amanda, Cynthia Erivo as Belle and Robert Duvall as Tom Mulligan in the film Widows).

Jack Mulligan reveals himself as the crook you hope he isn’t in the face of contentious conversations between he and his father. Campaign aid Siobhan (as played by Molly Kunz) serves on Jack’s inner circle, in fact aiming to talk truth about the nature of his leadership when Jack experiences self-doubt. The truth of Jack’s nature evolves over the course of the film, perhaps making the telling of his character one of the more relevant and rewarding of the entire film. A similar depth of narrative arc for Veronica and Alice are explored through the course of the film.

(From left to right, Viola Davis as Veronica, Colin Farrell as Jack Mulligan and Molly Kunz as Siobhan in the film Widows).

There is surprising depth of action and character through the course of this film. The audience reception to this film had to do with the side stories that gave the viewing some intelligence, in my opinion. My sense is the film offers more than it has too, with some clues and twists that ultimately pan out well if not exceptionally. I further enjoyed the means through which the traditional script for this type of film was flipped to allow for women, including minority women, to take leading roles. My grade for Widows is 3.75-stars on a scale of one-to-five.

Matt – Wednesday, September 04, 2019