On The Line: The Richard Williams Story

No matter how many times you hear it or from whatever angle you come from to tell the story of the Williams’ sisters rise to tennis fame, it’s remarkable - perhaps all the more so because their father Richard predicted it and did everything within his power to make it a reality.

His part in their story has been famously told before on screen in Reinaldo Marcus Green’s Will Smith-starrer King Richard. Stuart McClave, however, offers a much more nuanced and detailed view of the man that not only articulates familiar elements of Serena and Venus’s upbringing in LA’s Compton but also digs into their father’s background and childhood.

Something is most certainly gained from the presence of Richard himself, who has a vulnerability about him that you might not expect from a man who refused to be cowed by a largely middle-class, white establishment that stood in the way of his girls’ rise to fame. A trip to Shreveport in Louisiana is evidently an emotional one for him, as he considers his impoverished upbringing against a backdrop of Ku Klux Klan activity and racism. Good use of archive footage by McClave and his editors, along with some academic input in this segment brings home the reality of what Richard is saying, helping to view his experience and portrayal by the press with the clarity of 20/20 hindsight.

The film allows Richard to emerge as a complex individual but one who definitely wanted the best for his girls and knew how to help them succeed. His repeated instruction to “stay in her face” as he coaches the pair of them as kids in Compton is an encapsulation of his entire approach to a world that he simply refused to let ignore his kids’ talent.

It’s no secret that Richard, for that matter, his daughters have faced a lot of negative press down the years and this documentary helps to reframe this as what most of it was - simple racism. Particularly shocking is the sisters’ dreadful treatment at Indian Wells in 2001, when they were due to play each other in the semi-final but Venus had to pull out due to injury. We hear that even the commentator of the time called the white crowd’s booing out for what it was. That Venus and Serena taught the place a lesson in manners by refusing to play there again for another 14 years may be gratifying but the fact this happened at all is a shocking indictment of the tennis world at the time.

Although there are no new interviews with Serena, Venus or their mum Oracene Price, the wealth of existing archive is well employed to give them a presence here. There are also strong contributions from the likes of Billie Jean King, Pam Shriver and Katrina Adams - who though not a household name globally became the first African-American and the first woman to become president of the US Tennis Association. Also touching is the contribution from the Williams’ former coach Rick Macci, who we see enjoy a surprisingly moving reunion with Richard.

While McClave’s film moves at pace it never feels as though it is skimping on detail, while taking us through not just the facts of the Williams family but also offering a sense of the emotional underpinning provided by their dad helped spur them to success.