Director Reinaldo Marcus Green. Cast: Will Smith, Aunjanue Ellis, Jon Bernthal, Tony Goldwyn. 144 min. Biography/Sports.
- The movie is deservedly titled after the father of the tennis superstar sisters, Venus and Serena Williams, because it's mainly about the father rather than the daughters. Will Smith has made a career out of playing the "protective dad" (The Pursuit of Happyness, Collateral Beauty, even Suicide Squad), to the extent of falling into nepotism for his own son (After Earth).
- Based on the true rags-to-riches story, I was hoping for something different than your usual run of the mill sports movie. Yes, racism and the father's egocentric perseverance come into play - but the movie plays it safe, and doesn't take any risks to come up with some new, challenging ideas. The ending may come as a surprise, but that's taken from another rags-to-riches sports movie also.
- I haven't followed Tony Goldwyn's TV career, but he has come a long way since his Ghost petty villain days, with a more mature and memorable presence here, compared to movie's other supporting role/tennis coach, played by Jon Bernthal.
- Again, the movie's long screen time bogs you down. Fifteen to twenty minutes could've easily been edited out to give this a better momentum. How many times do we need to be told the dad doesn't want his daughters in the tournaments?
MoGo's rating: 6/10
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