Will Smith really wants that Oscar.

It looks decent enough to check out on HBOmax.

A few reviews from Telluride:
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/kin...ometer-reviews

Every time I see this trailer I wonder why the movie's central character is Venus and Serena's father and not them.

Because he’s an interesting figure in his own right. The script was solid.

Do you know very much about their history? That's not meant to be sarcastic, just not sure how much you know.

From a very young age, he started training his girls to be pro tennis players. He saw it as their way out of the high-crime, low-income area in which they lived. So, he was the one who taught them to play, despite not really being a tennis coach. He used more unconventional methods and did his own thing in preparing his girls, even as he rankled many in the very traditional tennis world. He was always front and center in their matches and a big driving force. That all seems tailor-made for a movie to me. Not necessarily a good one but one that could maybe be sold to an audience.

I'm sure most of you here in Movie Talk have very little to no background of Richard Williams or may not even follow tennis. But I for me living in So Cal, before Venus and Serena were even remotely a thing, they were just two teenagers from Compton, who happened to be pretty good at tennis. Richard Williams did a lot of speaking to the news about his two prodigy daughters and was basically their voice until the girls became superstars on their own.

This will be up on HBO Max tomorrow.

Watched this on Max last night and enjoyed it.

Watched this today. Good family-friendly sports bio. Felt like a movie from the Disney brand.

Film's take on Richard is more positive than what you would likely think if you knew him for real. Played as this stubborn guy who bends people to his will and gets proven right in the end. I bet dealing with him IRL was a real fucking pain.

This bombed horribly at the box office.

I really enjoyed it. They easily could have made this rated R, and you can tell they just skimmed some of the bad stuff with the Williams sisters producing.

That being said. I thought it was very entertaining.

I enjoyed this too. I've read a few places online that Smith's the one to beat for best actor this year at the Oscars. I mean, he was good and all. But I didn't think he turned in an award winning performance. Of all the actors, I think the woman who played his wife stood out the most. I really liked her. But I do recommend the film.

I really liked this movie. Hits a lot of familiar beats but a very well made film and man is Will Smith good. Give him his Oscar now, nobody is going to beat him here - great performance, fully exploring both his natural charisma and his prickly side, and it’s time.

I have yet to watch the movie, but this one just seems like it was done as another blatant attempt to get Smith an Oscar, like Concussion. This bombed badly this past weekend, and while I know the fact that it's day and date can be used , I think most people who decide awards will know that this was a blatant Oscar grab.

Just because it's Oscar bait doesn't mean it's not award-worthy. Just ask Renee Zellweger or Sir Anthony Hopkins

Hard to say something truly bombed if it's on HBO Max, though, right?

The Father wasn’t baity, IMO.

Went to a matinee today at my small local theater. The manager indicated there had hardly been any interest in this film, but quickly added it was due to it being on HBO Max.

I expected to enjoy it and I did.

I don't think we are back to the point where the box office means anything. I know people who were regular movie-goers who are still reluctant to go back, and then add in the streaming availability.

The first two MCU Spiderman movies opened at $100 million and grossed over $300 million. We need to see how No Way Home does to gauge the state of US theaters.

I enjoyed the movie, but the dialog got a little cheesy with "the plan" and all of the foreshadowing of what we already knew about their future success, stuff like Richard Williams telling Serena who was disappointed that she couldn't turn pro when Venus did " "Venus will be #1, but you will be the greatest of all time!". Dialog was close to just saying "Serena, you will win 7 Australian Opens, 7 Wimbledons, 6 US Opens and 3 French Opens, it's PART OF THE PLAN!"

I will see this but have to make sure pick a day where I have time to watch a 2 hr and 24 minute movie.

Pretty much. This seems like something families will watch over the Thanksgiving holiday.

Just watch one less of those shitty, direct-to-video movies.

Good movie overall. I can understand why they chose to ignore more negative things (like his past family) but more than a couple lines of dialogue about it would have been nice. Movie was paced really well; it didn't fell like it was 2.5h long after it was over. I could have easily watched another hour to see a few more years of their career.