Spencer

Director: Pablo Larraín
Starring: Kristen Stewart, Timothy Spall, Jack Farthing, Sean Harris, Sally Hawkins, Jack Nielen, Freddie Spry, Stella Gonet, Richard Sammel, Elizabeth Berrington, Amy Manson, Emma Darwall-Smith
Running Time: 117 min.
Rating: R 

★★★ (out of ★★★★) 

Spencer isn't the kind of biopic you can warmly embrace, fittingly keeping itself at an arm's length. In fact, it isn't even really a biopic at all, with director Pablo Larraín hardly interested in what did or didn't happen during the dissolution of Diana's marriage to Prince Charles, key events in her life, or reconstructing a timeline. It's a psychological horror film, plain and simple. And one that gets so far into the head of its subject that some viewers are bound to be turned off, criticizing it for being an artsy, depressing slog. While they wouldn't be entirely wrong on those counts, what's more questionable is whether it's fair to consider those flaws, especially considering how rare it is that a historical figure gets such a fearless, no holds barred treatment. Say what you will, but Larraín's approach is uncompromising, not budging an inch as far as what mainstream viewers would want or expect out of a movie about Princess Diana.

Almost completely inaccessible and wacky beyond belief, Larraín's film honorably refuses to meet us even halfway, mirroring the defiance of its subject herself. Full of eccentricities, narrative detours, dream sequences and melodramatic excursions, it falls so squarely in the wheelhouse of Kristen Stewart's indie work from the past decade you'll be wondering how Diana transformed into the actress rather than the other way around. And yet it still somehow fits, visually leaning into areas of her psyche that no news report or comprehensive novel on her life could possibly replicate. All of it anchored by a tremendous performance from Stewart that really digs deep, ranking in the upper echelon of nominated biographical portrayals, not to mention her biggest risk in a career full of them.

It's December 1991 and the Royal Family is spending Christmas at the Queen's Sandringham estate in Norfolk, right next to Diana's (Stewart) long-abandoned childhood home, Park House. With the Princess of Wales' already strained marriage to Prince Charles (Jack Farthing) on its last legs due to his  affair with Camilla Parker Bowles (Emma Darwall-Smith), she has second thoughts about attending. Lost, frustrated and on the verge of emotional collapse, Diana encounters Royal Head Chef Darren McGrady (Sean Harris), who convinces her to go, only to find she's ignored by the entire family immediately upon arrival. 

With the exception of young sons William and Harry (Jack Nielen and Freddie Spry), Diana receives a chilly reception, finding comfort in her friendship with Royal dresser Maggie (Sally Hawkins), who offers invaluable advice and guidance. Despite being under constant surveillance by the family's eyes and ears, Major Gregory (Timothy Spall), Diana refuses to conform, yearning for a normal life free of the burden and responsibility this position entails. She's become a prisoner in her own mind, dreaming of escaping to a simpler, happier time.

A key scene that encapsulates everything Diana's going through is her only seen conversation with Charles, which only further confirms that they're orbiting different planets, with no hope for reconciliation or compromise. At the crux of the argument is his belief that she needs to just give in for appearance sake and maintain a certain public facade like everyone else. Of course, none of this applies to him since his position within the family has already long been secured. She's just not built for this, and much of the film's running time is spent showing us in painstaking, sometimes torturous detail, exactly how. 

In a constant state of depression and misery, a fragile Diana's wings have been clipped, making you wonder how the marriage even lasted this long, regardless of Charles' affair. She regurgitates dinner, gets repulsed by the clothing selection, raids the dessert fridge after hours and even imagines mutilating herself with wirecutters. But her most telling form of rebellion comes in the middle of the night with an escape to her abandoned childhood home. All of these happenings are juxtaposed against the stately, regal backdrop of Guy Hendrix Dyas' production design and Jacqueline Durran's costumes, the latter of which serves the dual function of replicating Diana's iconic style, even as she's emotionally suffocated by it. And sharply contrasting with the pageantry surrounding her, Jonny Greenwood's jazzy, propulsive score races with a tense uneasiness that matches Diana's anxiousness.

If the worry going in was Stewart's ability to look or feel comfortable in this woman's skin, that's precisely the point since there's hardly a moment where Diana does, as she's constantly isolated and overwhelmed by her surroundings. The actress also nails her speech, mannerisms and strikingly resembles the Princess of Wales enough that that the real person pushes her way to the surface as Stewart becomes more unrecognizable, completely inhabiting the role. And while doing it, she finds a new way in, conveying a sadder, but strangely softer side to her that actually hasn't been beaten into the ground by previous cinematic and TV treatments. 

Steven Knight's script flies off the rails in inspired, unexpected ways, like when Diana's overcome with memories and hallucinations while dancing through the halls of her old home, briefly reconnecting with a life that never seemed further out of reach. This and Maggie's support push her forward, if only for William and Harry's sake. Neither receive much screen time, but hardly need it, as current events lend their scenes even more poignancy than they already would knowing Diana's eventual fate. Through them, she momentarily finds something that resembles joy and an actual identity outside the family's shackles. Viewed in this light, the film's title seems even more relevant, as a reclamation of her own life and name, if only briefly.       

In exploring how a down-to-earth, free spirited personality could survive when everything she is slowly gets stripped away, Spencer establishes itself as an ambitious piece of speculative historical fiction. It also asks a lot from its audience, who might sometimes feel just as equally trapped. But the experience stays with you largely due to methods used to convey that Diana's situation was far worse than reported or imagined. This entire arrangement was never going to work for either side, but this is the most brutally honest film about it, holding little back in telling a familiar story through fresh eyes.  

Nightmare Alley

Director: Guillermo del Toro
Starring: Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, Richard Jenkins, Ron Perlman, David Strathairn, Mary Steenburgen, Peter MacNeill, Holt McCallany, Paul Anderson, Jim Beaver, Clifton Collins, Jr., Tim Blake Nelson
Running Time: 150 min.
Rating: R 

★★★ (out of ★★★★)

Part remake, part noir homage, Guillermo del Toro's Nightmare Alley will likely go down as one of those more respectable reimaginings that gets more right than wrong, making for an immersive, entirely agreeable experience. Free of the supernatural elements that have categorized much of del Toro's work, all the attention shifts to the soullessness and moral corruption that resides within. And there isn't a much better a setting for that than traveling sideshow carnivals of the 30's and 40's, populated by downtrodden characters being either used, abused or manipulated as scams and cons run amok. With a script from del Toro and co-writer Kim Morgan, the second feature adaptation of William Lindsay Gresham's 1946 novel doesn't stray too far from the source material in the narrative sense, instead stylistically distinguishing itself in a class of its own, as del Toro's output tends to. 

With a stacked, all-star-cast and awe inspiring production design, the plot's essentially one long con game, and while the second half payoff's considerably more impactful than what precedes it, the whole setup looks better in retrospect, especially once the story arrives at its inevitably tragic destination. There's a certain aesthetic superficiality at play that matches its characters, so even while it doesn't transcend the horror genre to evolve into something more profound, you'd still be hard-pressed to find a a movie of its ilk more technically proficient or firing on as many cylinders.

It's 1939 and Stanton Carlisle (Cooper) takes a job as a carny after burning down his house with a dead body inside. When the carnival's owner, Clem Hoatley (Willem Dafoe) recruits him to help with the show's geek, who's fallen ill, Stan moves up to begin working with clairvoyant Madame Zeena (Toni Colette) and her alcoholic husband, Pete Krumbein (David Strathairn), who teaches him the secrets of their act. While learning and studying their cold reading and coded language tactics, he begins to fall for shy performer Molly Cahill (Rooney Mara), offering up some valuable new ideas for her electrocution act. But after Pete dies from consuming wood alcohol, Stan takes the lessons he's learned on the road with Molly as his assistant, leaving their carnival days behind to reinvent himself as a psychic act for Buffalo's wealthy elite. 

Ignoring Pete's warnings about leading people on when it comes to contacting the deceased, Stan's bluff is called by mysterious psychologist Dr. Lilith Ritter (Cate Blanchett), who attempts to publicly expose  his act as a fraud, with little success. Humiliated but intrigued by the scammer, she offers him a deal involving a rich but potentially dangerous patient named Ezra Grindle (Richard Jenkins) whose lover died years ago from a forced abortion. Despite Molly's objections, Stan makes promises to Grindle about his late partner he may not be able to keep, ensnaring himself in a web of lies and deceit from which there may be no escape. 

What makes this all mostly work is that there's just enough revelations and twists in the script, while still remaining relatively simple at its core. Themes of greed, avarice and betrayal are front and center, eventually coming full circle in a powerful ending, but not before some convoluted happenings occur along the way. Del Toro strikes just the right tone, especially in the early carnival scenes that set Stan on his dark path, eventually dragging Mara's Molly down along with him, though she admittedly registers a bit flat as a character.

Cooper's incredibly effective depiction of the protagonist's transformation from wide-eyed, ambitious awe into obsessive greediness is facilitated by the supporting cast. Whether it's Strathairn's hopeless drunk, Collette's tarot reader or Dafoe's swindling huckster, they all more than carry their share of the load. As does Tamara Deverell's production design and Dan Laustsen's cinematography, which immerses them all in this weathered, dirty, depressing "freak show" world. That this was also released in black and white actually makes a lot of sense, as it's hard to think of any recent picture with a content and visual style better suited to that treatment without it feeling like a gimmick. 

It isn't until Stan takes his act on the road with Molly and encounters Dr. Ritter that the movie really comes alive, with the possibility presenting itself that the ultimate player has finally met his match.  Blanchett's femme fatale looms largest of any character, bringing a cunning, seductive sense of danger and intrigue to Ritter with each carefully calculated move she makes. Her nomination-worthy performance is the ideal fit for this material, with the chemistry she shares with Cooper fueling the film's most tension-filled moments, even as it's clear the direction del Toro's heading in the last act. 

There are clues and brief flashbacks emphasizing a past Stan needs to run far away from, but can't, no matter how hard he tries. With this mentalist show, he's devised a one-way ticket to the big time, unaware his own weaknesses are about to be exploited and exposed as callously as his clients have been by him. What starts as a scheme goes entirely too far, his eventual comeuppance arriving in the final scene, sentenced to the very life he so desperately tried to escape, at any cost imaginable.    

Even as Del Toro's direction trumps the script, you'd often never know it, as the atmosphere and performances carry the day, specifically Bradley Cooper's. Further extending his run as maybe the most consistently reliable actor and movie star working today, he delivers again with his portrayal of this ambitious, narcissistic carny more than willing to sell his soul, or anyone else's, for a quick buck. Relentlessly depressing and darkly humorous, Nightmare may not be for all tastes, but it's still a keeper, likely to be revisited down the line as something slightly more accomplished than its critical and commercial reputation suggests.  

Ozark: Season 4 (Part One)

Creators: Bill Dubuque and Mark Williams
Starring: Jason Bateman, Laura Linney, Sofia Hublitz, Julia Garner, Lisa Emery, Charlie Tahan, Felix Solis, Damian Young, Alfonso Herrera, Adam Rothenberg, John Bedford Lloyd, Joseph Sikora, Katrina Lenk, Bruce Davison, Richard Thomas
Original Airdate: 2022

★★★ ½ (out of ★★★★) 

After delivering its biggest shocker and best season last year, anticipation has built as to whether Ozark's final one could not only follow it, but capitalize on that momentum to finish strong. Broken into two parts, the first seven episodes of season 4 is all about complications, setting the table for sure the Byrde family, who are sinking even deeper into the control of the Navarro drug cartel. 

With Marty (Jason Bateman) and Wendy (Laura Linney) destroying everyone and everything around them just to stay afloat, whatever moral ambiguity existed when the series began has long passed, as are their promises to "get out" and start fresh. Too much blood has been shed and innocent lives lost to argue otherwise, even as they continue to. And while they might resent being used as puppets by the cartel and are justifiably terrified, the lore of money and public respectability proves too alluring for the insecure Marty and completely corrupted Wendy, whose insatiable appetite for power has believably transformed her into the show's Lady Macbeth. 

With the Missouri Belle casino now thriving and the possibility of them starting their own foundation, Wendy's flexing her political muscles, taking full advantage of opportunities not possible in Chicago before Marty made his pact with the devil. After watching Omar Navarro (Felix Solis) have cartel attorney Helen Pierce (Janet McTeer) shot and killed right in front of them, the fallout's immense, with him seemingly now entrusting the Byrdes as his right-hand couple. 

It's iffy how much longer Marty can keep playing both sides of the fence while Wendy still reconciles ordering the murder of her bipolar brother Ben (Tom Pelphrey), now considered a "missing person." What does Navarro want? Surprisingly, to get out, using Marty's FBI connection and Wendy's respectable reputation to cut a deal and make a clean break. But Navarro's volatile, hot-headed nephew Javi Elizondro (Alfonso Herrera) has other plans, angling to take over the cartel from his uncle and is more than willing to kill them both if need be.  

The big hook heading into the end game is a flashforward car crash that raises even more questions as to whether to Byrdes will ever truly be able to escape, with or without FBI assistance. Marty and Wendy have made their bed and all the scrambling and double talking he does or power plays she makes may not be enough. Their elevation into the cartel's inner circle following  is both good and bad in the sense that if Navarro does intend to go straight and Marty can get a deal done with FBI agent Maya Miller (Jessica Frances Dukes), freedom is in sight. But if any of it goes sideways, literal hell will rain down.

The biggest obstacle is Javi, whose trigger short temper and insistence in having his hands in everything threatens the Byrdes' very existence. Whether it's his sloppy methods of covering up Helen's "disappearance," nearly sabotaging Wendy's deal with a Chicago-based pharmaceutical company CEO (Katrina Lenk) or poisoning Marty's arrangement with Agent Miller, he's this series' answer to Better Call Saul's Lalo Salamanca, only lacking the intelligence. Smoothly played by Herrera, Javi does have some of that character's charisma, making it that much more terrifying when he doesn't get his way. Guided entirely by money and greed, with no forethought or planning whatsoever, his unpredictability establishes him as the season's most dangerous character. 

Completely defiant of this threat is the monstrous Darlene Snell (Lisa Emery) who with boyfriend Wyatt (Charlie Tahan) continues to grow her heroin business, which she cut the K.C. mob in on last season as make good for blowing off Frank Jr.'s (Joseph Sikora) genitals with a shotgun. Darlene powers on despite Marty's dire warnings of Navarro cartel retaliation, having recruited a still enraged Ruth (Julia Garner) to join her cousin Wyatt in moving the product. 

Jumping at whatever opportunity still exists to screw over the Byrdes for their role in boyfriend Ben's death, Ruth's tenuous arrangement with Darlene is destined for failure, if not far worse. Just the thought of these two toxic personalities attempting to co-exist without killing each other provides the exact brand of tension the series thrives on. Emery again impresses as the slimy, manipulative Darlene, but she's met her match in the cunning Ruth, who unsurprisingly wants to run this entire thing, even purchasing a sleazy motel as a front to do it.

If Ruth's still devastated by what happened to boyfriend Ben, Marty and Wendy's previously meek and mild mannered teen son Jonah's (Skyler Gaetner) pain far transcends it, made far worse by his mother's expectations that he simply forget that she killed his uncle and fall back in line. His decision to go against his parents and start laundering money for Ruth and Darlene feels less like a betrayal than justice to him, despite the increased danger he's put his family in. Out for vengeance in a way older sister Charlotte (Sophia Hublitz) never was when she had her own teen rebellion phase earlier in the show's run, he's all done covering for them.

We saw glimpses of this new Jonah last season when he threatened Helen, but Ben's death pushed him off the deep end, hardly giving a care whether anyone discovers his parents' misdeeds. This includes private investigator Mel Sattem (Adam Rothenberg), a disgraced former cop who's arrived in the Ozarks to look into Helen's disappearance and knows something's up. Wendy's excuses and desire to maintain the upper hand only pushes Jonah further away, with Marty flailing in his attempts to play referee. 

As an occasional voice of reason, Jonah now sees his parents as viewers do, knowing that no matter how much Marty and Wendy talk about wanting out, it's hollow. Ironically enough, a now more complicit, Wendy-like Charlotte has drawn the line, insisting he ride this out without putting them in worse jeopardy. But to Jonah, his sister's just the latest victim of Byrde Stockholm Syndrome, despite the fact that his illegal money laundering  makes him more like Marty than he'd ever care to admit. Just because it's for the other side doesn't make it right.

If it wasn't clear before, there are few situations Marty isn't capable of dancing around or talking his way out of, kicking these skills into overdrive when faced with the challenge of cutting a deal for Navarro with Javi breathing down his neck. With a relaxed, deadpan delivery and demeanor, Bateman remains the beating heart of the show and straight man to all the chaos erupting around him, maneuvering his way out of the dark corners the writers frequently paint the character into.

Linney's again terrifying as Wendy, who becomes more drunk on power with each new move she makes, strategically planning her next play while stepping over whomever or whatever it takes to get there. Now utilizing trusted ally Jim Rattelsdorf (Damian Young) as her personal attorney to facilitate this political ascent, the Byrdes still can't get out unless Navarro does, as complicated as that's become due to Javi's interference. 

You know it's bleak when even the supposed "good guys" who could actually help the Byrdes navigate their way out of this mess are severely compromised. Agent Miller is taken advantage of by Marty when Navarro won't play ball and the FBI have their own agenda, which doesn't include giving a free ride to a cartel kingpin. All this while Javi plots his takeover, increasingly viewing Marty and Wendy as liabilities rather than assets.    

One of the show's most explosive moments comes in the Robin Wright-directed mid-season finale (Sanctified"), when Emmy-award winning Julia Garner proves not only how masterfully she inhabits Ruth, but what a great screamer she is, practically summoning up everything available in her soul to convey an unimaginable inner pain in a wildly emotional final scene. It's an inevitable accumulation of poor decisions made by these characters and the likely headline when anyone talks about the first half of this season. 

Simultaneously needing her former employer Marty's resources while still harboring a bitter grudge for everything the Byrdes have done to her family, tragedy strikes and Ruth snaps, setting the stage for what could be Marty and Wendy's last stand. Suddenly, the probability of them crawling out from under the cartel's thumb with their lives couldn't look bleaker. And as these episodes prove, nothing is off the table in terms of who can or can't survive heading into the home stretch.

While the decision to split its final season supposedly resulted from a compromise between Netflix and showrunner Chris Mundy, we'll have to hope this isn't another case of viewers having to wait an inordinate amount of time for what's left. This streaming model of fewer episodes and tighter, shorter seasons have unquestionably led to higher quality storytelling, if you're willing to sacrifice some of the instant gratification. But given all the intriguing events that unfolded to set it up, Ozark's final half can't possibly arrive soon enough.  

2022 Oscar Nominations (Reaction and Analysis)

It's that time again. Possibly as a response to last year's disaster of a telecast (the least watched Oscars ever) it was announced that there will be a host for the belated 94th Annual Academy Awards emanating from the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on March 27th. Who that person will be is still a giant question mark, but we do now at least have nominations, as read this morning by actors Tracee Ellis Ross and Leslie Jordan. There weren't too many surprises or snubs, which could in large part be due to a thin, condensed field without a lot of alternatives. 

The question wasn't so much what or who would show up, but where and how prominently. And in that respect, the big winner was unquestionably Jane Campion's The Power of the Dog, which leads the pack with 12 nominations and now has to be considered the frontrunner to take home Best Picture. While questions of whether it would be too dark and morose for the Academy's tastes were quelled considerably this morning by its nomination haul, it still has to win, and with AMPAS desperately going back to ten Best Picture nominees, that's dicier than ever. 

Looking at the nomination list (which can be found here), it's mostly satisfying, with many films and actors thought to be on the bubble, or in jeopardy of being snubbed, managing to get in. Still, the Oscars have a perception problem and another year's batch of underseen contenders doesn't look like it'll fix that. This is okay since the Academy Awards are what they are and it would be far worse to nominate high-grossing movies just to pop a rating or attract a hypothetical audiences who probably won't watch the show anyway. And after last year, it's hard to blame them, circumstances notwithstanding. So, that's where we stand, with this morning's announcement serving to only reinforce a long standing belief that voters do what they want, independent of critical praise or box office receipts. Sometimes they get it right, sometimes they don't, but this was one of their better mornings. Let's look at the major talking points.

- The Power of the Dog cleaned up in a big way. Picture, Director (Campion), Adapted Screenplay (Campion again), Editing (Peter Sciberras), Cinematography (Ari Wegner), Supporting Actor (Jesse Plemons and Kodi Smit McPhee) and Supporting Actress (Kirsten Dunst). Examining other winners of the Big Prize from year's past, most of their nomination scorecards aren't this this stacked.

-Spider-Man: No Way Home was never getting nominated for Best Picture. And then we definitely knew for sure from its lack of technical notices and an editing nod. We've all figured out how the Academy works by now. This wasn't happening.

-Somewhat of a second wind for West Side Story, a critically beloved box office flop in serious danger of being shut out of Best Picture, even with ten slots. It didn't. The average age of voters (some of whom remember the original's 1961 victory) and the Spielberg factor likely helped. And Ariana DeBose not only gets in for Supporting Actress, but has a good shot at winning. A great day for this film, racking up a whopping 7 nods. Far better than anticipated. 

- Spencer's Kristen Stewart makes it. For a while, this was doubtful, to the point many were already declaring it the "big snub" before nominations were even announced. She'll be joining Jessica Chastain (The Eyes of Tammy Faye), Olivia Colman (Lost Daughter), Penelope Cruz (Parallel Mothers) and Nicole Kidman (Being the Ricardos). Other than maybe Cruz getting in, no real shocks except snubs for Licorice Pizza's Alana Haim (far from a given), West Side Story's Rachel Zegler (somewhat of a surprise) and House of Gucci's Lady Gaga (a bigger surprise). And while it wasn't going to happen, I would have jumped out of my seat if Jennifer Lawrence sneaked in for Don't Look Up. As of now, the smart money's on Kidman. 

-At this point, Will Smith's pretty much a lock for Best Actor for King Richard, with Cumberbatch his only possible threat. With his 10th career nomination for The Tragedy of Macbeth, Denzel Washington becomes the most nominated black actor of all-time. Bardem (Being the Ricardos) and Andrew Garfield (Tick, tick...Boom!) round out a field that lacks Peter Dinklage (Cyrano), Bradley Cooper (Nightmare Alley), Cooper Hoffman (Licorice Pizza), and most regrettably, Don't Look Up's Leonardo DiCaprio.

-Even fewer surprises in the supporting races, with maybe Judi Dench a slight one for Belfast, at least as far as anyone can be surprised when she's nominated, grabbing a slot some thought could go to Passing's Ruth Negga, or possibly Tessa Thompson. And some point, the conversation seemed to shift from King Richard's Saniyya Sidney to Aunjanue Ellis, now a first-time nominee. Cate Blanchett (Nightmare Alley) was left out in the cold while Lost Daughter's Jessie Buckley got in. It's looking more and more like DeBose and Dunst will be battling this out.   

-Bradley Cooper doing double duty in Nightmare Alley and Licorice Pizza may not have helped him, going 0 for 2 with both lead and supporting nods. Nothing for Jared Leto for his love it or hate it House of Gucci turn. Whether Jesse Plemons and Kodi Smit-Phee cancel each other out for The Power of the Dog will be something to watch for in a strangely thin Supporting Actor category. McPhee is the safest bet here, but Troy Kotsur could actually win for CODA, assuming J.K. Simmons (Being the Ricardos) or Ciaran Hinds (Belfast) don't manage a miraculous eleventh hour push.

- Dune predictably had a strong showing in nearly all the technical categories while maybe being the biggest beneficiary of an expanded Best Picture category. Let's face it: there's no way this gets in without more than five nominees. But it's also exactly the kind of big budget spectacle these extra slots were intended to provide an opportunity to. Whether it's entirely deserving is another issue, but I'd  rather see this there than a more flawed effort like Tick, tick...Boom! 

- You know it's a slow day when the biggest surprises are Ryusuke Hamaguchi's directing nomination for Drive My Car and an Original Screenplay nod for Joachim Trier's Worst Person in the World. But they're surprises nonetheless. Paul Thomas Anderson's inclusion (in both writing AND directing) would seem to improve Licorice Pizza's Best Picture fortunes, if not for the lack of an editing nod. 

-Campion, Branagh and Spielberg round out the group for Director, while Guillermo del Toro misses for Nightmare Alley. His popularity was at least enough to get it in for Best Picture despite some wildly mixed reactions. Dune's less polarizing, but its technical achievements still weren't enough to propel director Denis Villeneuve to a directing nomination. Unfortunately, Don't Look Up's Adam McKay wasn't really expected to get in here, settling instead for a well deserved Original Screenplay nod.

-With a Best Picture field this large, you do run the risk of filling slots for the sake of it, potentially watering down the nominees. And that's kind of what's happened. While it's fair to say Drive My Car and Nightmare Alley were the least expected inclusions (displacing Being the Ricardos and Tick, tick...Boom!), neither are exactly shocks. House of Gucci was just a loser all-around, missing everything and then some. CODA, King Richard and Dune fit into the "thanks for coming" category, a designation far fewer will now be assigning to West Side Story after this morning. Nothing PTA does can be dismissed outright, with Licorice Pizza being no exception. And the timeliness of Don't Look Up ensures its presence amongst voters who believe a Best Picture winner should say something about the current world in which we live. But Oscar night will likely come down to The Power of the Dog vs. Belfast, a showdown proving that as hard as the Academy may try to change, the more they stay the same.     

King Richard

Director: Reinaldo Marcus Green
Starring: Will Smith, Aunjanue Ellis, Saniyya Sidney, Demi Singleton, Jon Bernthal, Tony Goldwyn, Mikayla LaShae Bartholomew, Danielle Lawson, Layla Crawford, Erika Ringor, Dylan McDermott, Andy Bean, Kevin Dunn, Christopher Wallinger, Chase Del Rey, Judith Chapman, Jessica Wacnik, Kaitlyn Christian, Marcela Zacarías, Rich Sommer
Running Time: 145 min.
Rating: PG-13

★★★ (out of ★★★★)

About halfway through King Richard we start getting glimpses of a side to Richard Williams that's more in line with public perception, fair or not. Something other than the hard-working father who coached his daughters Venus and Serena from the streets of Compton into the annals of tennis history. Director Reinaldo Marcus Green is carefully juggles the different facets of this man, while also setting the film up as a classic sports underdog story that in lesser hands could have been indistinguishable from the rest. 

Richard's most definitely a character, with the biggest surprise being how this does go into the weeds regarding the real person's personality flaws. So even as an inspirational, uplifting rags to riches tale co-produced by the Williams family, his moral shortcomings aren't ignored so much as sensibly repurposed for the type of project this is. By at least attempting to identify the source of his irritating, controlling actions, the lighter, restrained moments play better in retrospect, making it easier to develop a begrudging respect for what he accomplished, regardless of his controversial methods. 

Will Smith's terrific as the polarizing Williams who, with all his faults, certainly did something right. Then he couldn't get himself out of the way, before eventually coming around and letting go, as it's told here. The actor succeeds in making Richard endearingly unlikable, softening him just enough that the dedicated hustling and love for his daughters ultimately outweigh his prickly behavior. That it's more about him than the girls will be a criticism, but his story is theirs and vice versa, with the young actresses given a real chance to shine

As biopics go, this isn't an egregious truth offender, while also being the only good tennis movie we've seen by a large margin, getting a lot of tiny details about the sport and period right. Concessions can always be made with story and character, but the biggest relief is Green's concerted effort to avoid missteps in accuracy, allowing viewers to more easily engage with the world it immerses us in. 

It's the early 90's and Richard Williams (Smith) lives in Compton, California with his wife, Oracene "Brandy" Price (Aunjanue Ellis), three step-daughters and two daughters, Venus (Saniyya Sidney) and Serena (Demi Singleton), whom he aspires to turn into pro tennis players. Having laid out a plan for their success very early on, he and Brandy coach them on the local public courts while working at night.  After distributing brochures and videotapes in an effort to get the girls professionally coached, Paul Cohen (Tony Goldwyn) agrees to take only Venus on for free, leaving Serena to continue training with her mom. 

After Richard's steadfast refusal to let his daughters play the junior circuit causes a split with Paul, coach Rick Massi (Jon Bernthal) enters the picture, agreeing to take both girls for free at his Florida academy with intentions of having them turning pro. Richard's intensifying objections to having them play juniors (a must to move to the next level) and his ubiquitous media presence soon make Rick wonder what he's gotten into. They clearly have the talent, but in envisioning a life for his daughters Richard could barely dream of experiencing as a kid, the same methods he used to get these girls where they are is now becoming a detriment. With their careers in danger of being grounded before they officially start, he'll need to start making some compromises, trusting them to succeed on their own terms rather than his.

Smith shows multiple dimensions to Richard that overlap more often than not. His determination to keep these girls off the rough streets of Compton and focused entirely on their schoolwork and tennis is by far his most admirable quality, occasionally even risking his life to do it. With a graying beard and unsteady gait, Smith plays him as an unathletic, permanently older guy you'd never know stepped on a tennis court in his life, if not for the warm-up jacket and shorts. And it works perfectly because that's who he was, gaining his knowledge not from playing, but studying books and magazines about the game. 

"Fail to plan and plan to fail" is the sign Richard hangs at the courts during their practices, remaining tirelessly committed to having them break down the doors long closed to young black female players, fully aware and prepared to shield them from the anticipated blowback and discrimination. So if Venus and Serena were a ticket for him to get rich as some have accused, he sure picked the hardest and whitest sport for them to break into. They'd inevitably be viewed as outsiders while battling a major headwind, which Richard uses as motivation to justify his often stubborn approach.

Zach Baylin's script goes further than expected in depicting Richard as press hungry, selfish and at one early low point, potentially violent. It's even acknowledged that he abandoned his kids from another marriage, a detail no one probably expected to be mentioned in this film at all. Left by his father while being beaten by white men as a kid, he swore he'd be an entirely different parent, and it's the fear of being viewed as a failure that's pushing him to tighten the controls on Venus and Serena. 

Once the girls do get professional coaching and it's time for Richard to hang back a bit is when he  becomes more overbearing, weary of them suffering the same consequences as a troubled Jennifer Capriati (Jessica Wacnik) or be taken advantage of by venomous sponsors seeing dollar signs. If Smith's turn is the headline, the most overlooked performance comes from Aunjanue Ellis, who as Brandy has a ferocious kitchen scene opposite him where Richard gets a harsh reality check, confronted head-on about how his own perceived failings could now be sabotaging these girls. 

Since Venus' rapid ascent comes first, it's almost odd seeing the younger Serena as a supporting player in her big sister's rise, knowing how dominant she'll eventually become. As Venus, newcomer Saniyya Sidney is completely charming and believable both on court and off, depicting a young teen who takes her newfound success in stride, realizing her dad's antics come with the territory. And while a double was used for some of the playing scenes, she still looks, acts and moves like a prodigy on the court, a far cry from all previous tennis films where the characters look uncomfortable even holding a racquet, much less swinging it properly. That watching them feels like you're catching glimpses of Venus and Serena in their formative stages is just about the highest compliment these actresses can get, nailing the big make-or-break aspect of the film.

Tony Goldwyn is especially strong as the veteran instructor getting push back at every turn from Richard until finally throwing in the towel. But it's Bernthal as the wacky, charismatic Rick Massi who steals the show as the larger than life personality guiding the girls while patiently handling their father, whose walls he starts to break down just a bit. There's also a few, fun era-specific cameos from tennis legends like Vic Braden (Kevin Dunn), John McEnroe (Christopher Wallinger), Pete Sampras (Chase Del Rey) and Bud Collins (Brad Greenquist) that serve their purpose and are cleverly sprinkled in.

The recreation of Venus' match with top-seeded Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (Marcela Zacarías) at the 1994 Bank of the West Classic in Oakland that closes the film isn't entirely predictable, especially for fans who may not even remember exactly what happened or how. It runs longer than necessary, delaying the inspirational ending that follows, but Green does enough right with the latter to avoid clobbering us over the head with its message, which feels earned. 

This has to be one of the few sports movies that strangely generates much of its third act suspense from the monetary value of an endorsement deal. Of course, it's more than that, entirely emblematic of a father's fight to have these girls seen for what they're worth, as players and people. Just don't tell him any of this was "incredible" or impossible." His plan worked, and while we can't say for sure whether Venus or Serena could have achieved the exact same results without it, they were the ones who finished what he started.