'King Richard' review: Will Smith serves an ace as father of Venus and Serena Williams

Once a Fresh Prince of Bel Air, always a Fresh Prince Of Bel Air. Photo: Handout

There's a lovely pair of sounds that you hear throughout King Richard, Reinaldo Marcus Green's endearing film about the upbringing of tennis champions Venus and Serena Williams: a thwock, of a tennis ball perfectly meeting a racket's strings, and a gasp, from the hardworking athlete swinging that racket.

The film is full of tennis matches that feel thrilling, even to viewers who aren't tennis fans, and those two noises become the jazz of its soundtrack; a constant reminder of the effort and precision required by this sport, and of how satisfying a perfectly placed tennis shot can be.