King Richard
Warner Bros. Pictures | Release Date: November 19, 2021 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
76
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 53 Critic Reviews
Positive:
45
Mixed:
7
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerNov 19, 2021
It’s the most sheerly pleasurable movie I’ve seen so far this year. Read full review
90
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternNov 18, 2021
It’s serious at bottom. It means to teach and inspire, as well as entertain, and takes on more subjects of consequence than you can shake a racket at—among them race, parenting, marital dynamics, the weight of personal history and the mad commercialization of sports. Yet it’s marvelous fun from start to finish. Read full review
90
The New York TimesA.O. ScottNov 18, 2021
This is a fundamentally — and I would say marvelously — old-fashioned entertainment, a sports drama that is also an appealing, socially alert story of perseverance and the up-by-the-bootstraps pursuit of excellence. Read full review
88
ABC NewsPeter TraversNov 19, 2021
As the hard-driving daddy of Venus and Serena Williams, Will Smith gives the performance of his life in an unapologetic crowd-pleaser. You just may want to stand up and cheer. Read full review
88
New York PostJohnny OleksinskiNov 18, 2021
Richard is flawed, never villainous or heroic, and rarely follows his own fervent advice to be humble. You leave in awe of what he accomplished, but not admiring the whole man. Few biopics dare to have layers anymore. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperNov 18, 2021
Some 15 years after Will Smith gave one of his most authentic and enduring performances playing the real-life homeless salesman Chris Gardner in The Pursuit of Happyness, he delivers nomination-worthy work as another type of real-life salesman in King Richard. Read full review
88
Washington PostAnn HornadayNov 17, 2021
Will Smith delivers a ferocious, all-consuming performance in King Richard, a thoroughly entertaining portrait of Richard Williams — better known as Venus and Serena’s father. Read full review
88
The Seattle TimesMoira MacdonaldNov 16, 2021
King Richard, though perhaps a tad overlong, is as irresistible as the young legends at its center; you watch with pleasure, thinking of the many future champions it might inspire. Read full review
86
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzNov 18, 2021
Once you surrender yourself to what King Richard is doing, and what it’s not doing, that’s okay. It’s especially easy to shut up and go along with whatever rosy view the Williams family wishes to preserve because Smith is here the whole time, helping sell the story. Read full review
85
Film ThreatAlan NgNov 22, 2021
All around, King Richard is a solid, inspiring film. Read full review
85
TheWrapMonica CastilloSep 16, 2021
King Richard may be a fairly straightforward biopic, but it’s an enjoyable one, giving viewers the chance to enjoy a heartwarming if not uncomplicated story, talk about parenting and the stresses the many characters faced on their way to the history books Read full review
83
The Film StageJake Kring-SchreifelsNov 19, 2021
Smith has found a character whose egocentricity and dynamic range matches his own itchy movie star persona. Read full review
83
Original-CinJim SlotekNov 18, 2021
I was worried King Richard would come to resemble the platitudinous The Pursuit of Happyness, which earned Smith an Oscar nomination, but is not one of my favourites of his films. I was pleasantly surprised thereafter. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyLeah GreenblattSep 7, 2021
Green (who made the small, affecting 2018 indie Monsters and Men and this year's little-seen Joe Bell) hasn't reinvented the underdog wheel, but he has made something fresh out of the familiar — a smart reminder that when a story is told well it can hit all the beats we know, and still somehow surprise us. Read full review
80
The New YorkerAnthony LaneNov 22, 2021
What makes Green’s film so persuasive is that other characters—above all, the redoubtable Brandi Williams—are alive to everything that’s absurd and overbearing, as well as noble, in the hero’s cause. Read full review
80
Rolling StoneK. Austin CollinsNov 22, 2021
Despite its well-worn triumphant narrative, King Richard proves convincing at giving credence to the idea of Williams as a fact already stranger than fiction — the kind of man you can’t help but feel is a real character, in the everyday-life sense of that phrase: a one-of-a-kind guy, hard to reproduce. Read full review
80
TimeStephanie ZacharekNov 22, 2021
It’s one of those crowd-pleasing movies that doesn’t make you feel embarrassed to be part of the crowd—you feel buoyed rather than talked down to. Read full review
80
The Irish TimesDonald ClarkeNov 22, 2021
This is a straight-edge, inspirational sporting film of the old school – closer to Rocky than Hoop Dreams. Taking all the inevitable compromises on board, it could hardly work better within its chosen parameters. Read full review
80
The IndependentClarisse LoughreyNov 22, 2021
Who’s really at the wheel of Richard’s ambition? His love for his children or his own ego? It’s a testament to both Green and Smith that the question is allowed to linger so potently. Read full review
80
The Observer (UK)Wendy IdeNov 22, 2021
It’s a very watchable picture, but one that, like the plan that Williams famously wrote for his daughters, feels at times like a checklist of challenges overcome and decisions vindicated. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangNov 19, 2021
What we see on-screen is both rewardingly jagged and uncommonly thoughtful, an engrossing family drama that doubles as a sharp rethink of how a family operates within the overlapping, often overbearing spheres of race, class, sports and celebrity. Read full review
80
Arizona RepublicWeldon B. JohnsonNov 15, 2021
King Richard is an inspiring story of a family beating long odds to succeed. When you find out just how long those odds were, it's hard not to cheer for them. Read full review
80
Screen DailyTim GriersonNov 9, 2021
Director Reinaldo Marcus Green’s drama works best when it pushes against genre conventions, focusing more on race, class and the difficulties of family rather than in the typical concerns about winning the big match. Read full review
80
Time OutHelen O'HaraNov 5, 2021
This may not quite be the biopic of two women whose achievements decidedly merit one, but it’s an extraordinary story about a man who endured danger, ridicule and desperation to create the circumstances for them to thrive. Read full review
80
EmpireAlex GodfreyOct 15, 2021
As stirring and heart-warming as you’d like, this is a hugely touching family opus. It’s nothing revolutionary, but it’s straight from the heart and gets you in the gut. Read full review
80
VarietyPeter DebrugeSep 5, 2021
The beauty of Zach Baylin’s script is that while the arc is familiar, hardly a single detail could be described as clichéd, seeing as how the specifics are virtually unprecedented. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliNov 22, 2021
The movie as a whole isn’t about moments but a synthesis of all the factors that enriched the girls’ tennis DNA. Regardless of how much is true, how much has been softened and reshaped to suit the movie’s perspective, and how much is fabricated, the end result is compelling drama with top-notch performances and a feel-good denouement. Read full review
75
USA TodayBrian TruittNov 22, 2021
Smith brings passion and stubbornness to Richard, a controversial figure in some corners and a devoted dad in others. The movie itself is a rousing if familiar sports drama that takes care of the surface-level narrative but doesn’t delve deeply enough into the meatier stuff, at times seeming to have the wrong focal point. Read full review
75
The Associated PressLindsey BahrNov 17, 2021
There are, hopefully, still many stories left to be told about the phenom of the Williams sisters. But King Richard is a very good start. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comOdie HendersonNov 16, 2021
King Richard is half sports movie, half biopic. As such, it hits the sweet spots and sour notes of both genres. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeMark FeeneyNov 16, 2021
King Richard is a movie, not a miniseries; and part of what makes Baylin’s screenplay so effective is his knowing what to leave out as well as what to put in. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleNov 10, 2021
Once the focus switches to Venus, whatever is going on with Richard becomes secondary. In her scenes on the court, Sidney is able to convey the double quality of a killer in embryo and a vulnerable kid. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreNov 3, 2021
From watching and reading their saga as it played out, one could only imagine the worst of this “tennis parent” from hell and what he put his kids through. King Richard and Will Smith good-naturedly and affectionately upend that. Read full review
75
Vanity FairRichard LawsonSep 5, 2021
What keeps us invested is the cast’s invigorating performances. Read full review
75
The PlaylistGregory EllwoodSep 3, 2021
The filmmakers are beyond lucky to have the performances from Smith and Ellis, as well as Venus’ own incredible story, to keep you captivated when it matters most. Read full review
75
IndieWireDavid EhrlichSep 3, 2021
The film embodies its namesake’s oft-repeated — if increasingly suspect — ethos of making sure that fun comes first. Read full review
70
Little White LiesLeila LatifNov 22, 2021
Director Green may get the best out of Smith, and his directorial style is, in general, very robust, yet his hyper-competence occasionally works to the detriment of the film, feeling cautious and out of step with the bold ambition of hi subjects. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriNov 19, 2021
When King Richard works, it sings. Read full review
70
CNNBrian LowryNov 18, 2021
Smith aces the performance, which is the main attribute in elevating the story above the standard sports-movie conventions. Read full review
70
SlashfilmHoai-Tran BuiNov 16, 2021
King Richard isn't looking to break the sports biopic genre or break the Williams' sister's legacy; it's purely a crowd-pleasing performance vehicle for Smith. But you know what? It does its job. Read full review
70
IGNChris TillyOct 24, 2021
King Richard is a simple tale of triumph over adversity. The supporting cast shines, Will Smith excels, and while this might not be the full story, King Richard nevertheless works as both character study and feel-good sports movie. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterStephen FarberSep 5, 2021
It is far from a perfect film, but it tantalizes, thanks to the strong subject matter and the sharp characterizations and performances. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleJosh KupeckiNov 22, 2021
The interplay of setback and triumph of the sports film genre, here informed by both racial and socioeconomic concerns, is comfortably familiar, and Green, with writer Zach Baylin, never met a tennis serve/time transition they didn’t run with, but they keep their gaze on Papa Williams and his provocative eccentricities, dutifully lionizing the man as good as any royal biographer. Read full review
65
The AtlanticDavid SimsNov 18, 2021
Anytime King Richard threatens to follow an anodyne sports-movie arc, Williams’s forceful personality rears its head again. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsNov 17, 2021
Even the verifiably true material in King Richard has a way of coming off like a Hollywood movie in the most “Hollywood movie” sense of those words. Read full review
60
The TelegraphRobbie CollinNov 4, 2021
It’s lots of fun until you notice it doesn’t quite add up. Read full review
60
Screen RantMae AbdulbakiOct 21, 2021
Bolstered by a solid performance by Will Smith, King Richard is a feel-good, charming sports biopic that uplifts but never reaches its full potential. Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawOct 16, 2021
Enjoyable and well-crafted as it is, this movie can’t quite decide what to do with the tougher, darker side of Richard Williams. Read full review
58
UproxxVince ManciniNov 24, 2021
King Richard is another kooky success story that never really interrogates what it means to be successful. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubJesse HassengerNov 16, 2021
The movie keeps enough of Richard’s messy past off screen to feel like a hagiography with a few concessions, rather than a true warts-and-all portrait. Read full review
57
Paste MagazineJacob OllerNov 22, 2021
Though director Reinaldo Marcus Green finds winning performances away from his lead, the milquetoast script serves the tennis patriarch a soft lob—one without potential to inspire or excite, and one that’s constantly reminding us that we already know how it ends. Read full review
50
SlateAllegra FrankNov 22, 2021
King Richard is a Will Smith vehicle, through and through. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineDerek SmithNov 5, 2021
Rarely has a film used its foreknowledge of a happy ending as a reason to remain so uncritical and incurious of its central subject. Read full review
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