On the Line: The Richard Williams Story (Review) – Sheffield Doc Fest

On the Line: The Richard Williams Story is awaiting a UK release date.

On July 8th 2000, the Centre Court of Wimbledon celebrated as Venus Williams won a tie-break to complete a straight-set victory over Lindsay Davenport. Her sister Serena had won the grand slam at the US Open the year before, but Wimbledon would be Venus’ party. She would become the first Black woman to win a Wimbledon singles title since Althea Gibson in 1958 and the first Black player to win a major title since Arthur Ashe in 1975. The sheer joy on Richard Williams’ and Serena Williams’ faces was infectious as Venus ran through the crowds to hug her sister and her dad. In just five years, Richard Williams and his second wife, Oracene Price, had taken Serena and Venus to the top of international tennis. But the story behind the man who guided them is far more complicated; it is wrapped in media soundbites, a drive for success and a need to escape poverty and oppression. Directed by Stuart McClave, On the Line: The Richard Williams Story allows space for Williams to explore his side of the court. 

From the public tennis courts of Compton, Los Angeles, to the predominantly white, middle and upper-class tennis establishment, On the Line offers a thoughtful and, at times, fascinating exploration of the Williams family journey. However, with no fresh insight from Venus, Serena or Oracene, it also feels incomplete. There is no exploration of Williams’ first marriage to Betty Johnson and the five children he had before meeting Oracene, their divorce or his subsequent marriage to Lakeisha Juanita Graham. Instead, insights come from the former president of the United States Tennis Association, Katrina Adams, Dr Dale Caldwell of the Black Tennis Hall of Fame, Rick Macci, Pam Shiver and Billie Jean King, with the most engaging commentary coming from LSU sociology professor Dr Kenna Franklin. But while fascinating, these conversations lack a family dynamic. As a result, Williams’ story feels filtered as the documentary focuses on a limited and chosen number of periods in his life.

However, the documentary finds a powerful voice when it explores Richard’s childhood in Shreveport, Louisiana, Compton, Los Angeles, poverty, and social oppression. Here McClave exposes the realities of classism, racism and oppression that continue to haunt America today. In these discussions, Williams’ story takes on a new meaning as we explore the foundations of a man who dared to dream, believed in his community, and strived to change the oppression surrounding him. Richard Williams was unafraid to take on the sporting establishment, and in doing so, he proved that two kids from Compton could rise to the very top and change the sporting world. At the same time, an in-depth exploration of the infamous 2001 Indian Wells match that led to the Williams family’s boycott of the tournament for fourteen years is shocking, providing us with a powerful example of how Richard, Serena, Venus and their mother, Oracene, were forced to battle a sporting world that frequently othered them.

But as the credits rolled on Stuart McClave’s documentary, I pondered how much of the man we had seen and was ultimately left with far more questions than answers. McClave’s attempts to unpick the man behind the racket are fascinating, as is the story of Venus and Serena, which occupies much of the screen time. But do I know Richard Williams any better? Despite the powerful explorations of racism, poverty, oppression and classism in McClave’s film, it often feels like an incomplete picture of the coaching legend, community activist, father and husband that never quite achieves the game, set and match it strives for.