The film replicates this later on with Bobby Womack’s cover of ‘California Dreaming’, but Simone’s take has just a bit more resonance. In a subtle nod to the largely white world that he’s trying to break his family into, Richard is soundtracked with one of the most emotionally gifted black singers of all time giving her interpretation of a white man’s gospel song. In one of the film’s more brilliant moves, the gospel-tinged track that plays as Richard goes to his shift as a night shift security guard is Nina Simone’s cover of Bob Dylan’s ‘I Shall Be Released’. Some work better than others, but they’re all unorthodox choices in a relatively straightforward film. Let’s look at five of the most seemingly strange songs used in Kind Richard and attempt to dissect what effect they’re supposed to have within the film’s pacing and flow. That’s because the previous two-and-a-half hours were filled with wacky soundtrack choices. About The Singer : Kenneth Ray Rogers or known as Kenny Rogers is an American country music singer who is also a songwriter, photographer, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur. While ‘Be Alive’ works for the film’s ultimate message of triumphing over adversity, and is an early frontrunner in the ‘Best Original Song’ Oscar race, it slots nicely within the movie’s established narrative. King Richard only gets a single original song, but it’s quite the pull: an original Beyonce track entitled ‘Be Alive’, which is the kind of coup you only get when Will Smith is the star of your movie. While the songs used can sometimes distract, more often than not, they successfully highlight the bleed-over of different walks of life that the Williams family are attempting with their daughters’ successes. Whether it’s 1980s new wave or ’90s punk rock, the film alternates between putting the viewer in a specific place and time and confounding their expectation with strange needle drops. Part of the way the film communicates this culture clash is with its eclectic choice of music. The film is at its most successful when it highlights how an atypical personality like Richard is needed to break through in such a white-dominated area. Despite its thick layer of hagiographical cheese, the film is a successful look into the inner workings of a sport as restrictive and privileged as tennis. Will Smith’s latest jump at Oscar gold comes in the form of King Richard, the sports biopic that chronicles the early attempts of Richard Williams to get his daughters, Venus and Serena, to the highest level of tennis.
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