Over the next month, the Pepper Bough staff is celebrating the 94th Academy Awards by reviewing each of this year’s crop of Best Picture nominees. We will be looking at two movies per week, plus a few other notable nominees, leading up to Oscar night on Sunday, March 27.

“King Richard,” nominated for six Academy Awards including Best Picture, is one of the all-time great inspirational sports movies about the man behind the greatness of Venus and Serena Williams. The film focuses on the early days of the sisters’ road to superstardom.

Richard Williams planned to take his daughters Venus and Serena Williams from the streets of Compton, California to become pros. He doesn’t want Venus and Serena to live on the dangerous streets of their hometown. His daughters constantly get assaulted by local gang members, which leads Richard to taking a beating protecting them. 

Richard never goes away from his plan, and he gets his girls out of one world into another.

“King Richard” tells us to never give up. You will have your ups and downs; even if it seems impossible right now, it gets better with the power of family and faith. It also encourages us not to rush time, that time will come towards us, and when it does, we will be ready. 

I was shocked about “King Richard.” It was a rollercoaster, a slow one. It starts with its struggle, then it takes us on a thrilling ride. 

One of the pieces of the story I was quite excited about was learning how Venus didn’t play in a tournament for three years as a junior, which her father was told would destroy her career opportunities. The first match up she played got me nervous. She was gonna get disqualified, but she turned the game around and won. 

As I said, this was a rollercoaster. 

Overall “King Richard” is a great film. It shows that family is everything needed in life.