Show all of those people
that I can handle What’s coming
And I’m not gonna let you down
Our movie begins with Richard, at a country club, trying to speak to tennis coaches
about becoming a coach for his daughters, Venus and Serena
as he has been preparing them constantly for their greatness in the sport
Each man he speaks to turns him down
either because of his background, or because they are used to parents pushing for their
kids, to be trained as the next big athletes
Venus and Serena pass phone books around their neighborhood
They get to the house across the street from theirs belonging to Mrs. Strickland
She frequently criticizes Richard’s parenting, because she notices him making the girls practice
out in the rain
Richard walks over and tells the girls not to talk to Mrs. Strickland because all she
does is try to rile him up
he goes into the house, where he lives with his wife Brandy and her daughters, Tunde,
Isha, and Lyndrea
Richard gathers the girls in his bus, and takes them to the park, where he can practice
with Venus and Serena
While Tunde is studying, she is harassed by a thug named Roc, who makes crude comments
to her
Richard gets the girls in the bus, and confronts Roc
telling him that he has told him countless times to stop harassing Tunde
but Roc and his boys just insult him, and he punches and kicks him
When they return home, he talks with Brandy
expresses concern with how he wants to prepare the girls for greatness, but he is confident
that Venus and Serena will become legendary
He then goes to his night job as a security guard, where he continues to look for someone
to coach the girls
Richard meets with Vic Braden, after having watched his instructional video
he presents a video to him in person showcasing Venus and Serena’s talents, but while Braden
thinks they are good
he declines to take them on for coaching
After taking the family out for dinner that night, Richard goes to the park, to practice
alone
Roc and his goons show up, to taunt and harass him again
He attempts to walk away from them, but when Roc makes more crude comments about Tunde
Richard whacks him in the face with his tennis racket, and Roc’s guys start beating him
Roc gets his gun out and threatens him with it, but then decides to leave him alone because
nobody will care for him
Richard then gets his gun from his job, and drives around the neighborhood looking for
Roc
He finds them outside a store, but as he starts walking toward them with a gun
another car drives by and shoots Roc dead, prompting him to leave immediately
He returns home, where Brandy tends to his wounds
The next day, Richard takes Venus and Serena to a country club
where he hopes to talk to Coach Paul Cohen
They find Paul practicing, with John McEnroe and Pete Sampras
Although Paul insists that he is not taking Juniors, Richard twists his arm long enough
for Paul
to allow the girls to show what they’ve got
He hits a few balls with Venus, and he is genuinely impressed with what he sees
Later, Richard returns home with the girls, who tell their sisters that they got a coach
However, Richard tells Brandy that Paul is only interested in coaching Venus for free
he takes Venus to be coached by Paul, while Brandy stays to help coach Serena
and he bothers Paul with how he tells Venus to open her stance
since Richard believes he knows what the proper stance should be for her to play
Later, Paul shows Richard and Venus a video of, Jennifer Capriati to convince them
that Venus should start out playing in Junior tournaments
Venus is entered into the Junior tournaments, where she faces off against other girls her
age
and she subsequently beats all of them
After one tournament, the girls are all celebrating and bragging about Venus’s win
Richard has them go into a shop all together
he starts driving the bus home because he told them not to brag
and is ready to make them walk three miles home
until Brandy chastises him and makes him pull over so they can catch up to the bus
When they get home, Richard makes them, watch Cinderella, to teach them a lesson about humility
After practicing at the park, Richard comes home
to find some agents from Social Services.
having been called to the house by Mrs. Strickland under the belief, that the girls are being
abused
Richard proves to the agents that the girls are fine and receiving care and education
Brandy later goes to confront Mrs. Strickland for making the call to subtly threaten her
The family later, goes for another tournament for Venus
but Serena manages to get into a court for herself to play in without Richard knowing
He and Brandy find out after another parent comments that Richard has two incredibly athletic
daughters
He walks with Brandy to find Serena playing and acknowledges that she is just as great
as Venus
The girls are gathered with other players while Nancy Reagan gives a speech
While this happens, Paul introduces Richard to sports agents, George MacArthur and Laird
Stabler
The meeting goes well until Richard feels insulted, that Laird refers to Venus’s victories
as incredible feeling
that it is only that way to them, because it’s a black girl winning
Although Laird and George try to explain themselves, Richard just farts and walks away from them
Paul later goes to talk to Richard and Brandy, over the incident
because Richard wants to pull Venus out of Juniors, and have her go up against more professional
players
he cuts ties with Paul because he doesn’t feel, that Paul is working up to Richard’s
standards and doesn’t have their best interests at heart
Brandy is not happy, with how Richard handled everything
Richard later gets in touch with Rick Macci, to become a new coach for both Venus and Serena
He is impressed with them and offers them a chance to train out in Florida
Richard convinces Rick to allow the whole family except Tunde, because she is focusing
on her studies in college, to move out there together
They all move out there, where Richard quickly attempts to step on Rick’s toes over how
he will coach the girls
Some time passes, and Rick is shown, to be proud of Venus’s work
Richard pulls her out for an interview and has Serena fill in with Rick
During the interview, Richard cuts off the interviewer, to scold him for asking Venus
certain questions
telling him to let her be a kid
Rick later tells Richard about a tournament in Oakland
where they could let Venus compete, but Richard isn’t happy with Rick talking to people
behind his back
Rick tries to persuade Richard, but he chooses to think about it
Richard later sees a news report about how Jennifer Capriati was arrested for drug use
Richard had asked Rick if it was true that Jennifer, who was formerly coached by Rick
had dropped out of the upcoming tournament because she was burnt out
Richard then takes the family to Disney World, instead of practice
They get home, and find Rick waiting for them, and he confronts Richard for bailing on practice
He tells Rick that he doesn’t want the girls, to end up like Jennifer
Rick hits back that Richard keeps doing everything for himself, while pretending it’s all for
the girls
Venus walks out of the house in frustration
leading to Richard and Brandy arguing in the kitchen, where she says she is only staying
with him for the sake of her daughters
Richard practices with Venus at night, where she insists that she wants to compete in the
tournament
but she feels he doesn’t think she is ready
Richard tells her about how when he was a boy in Shreveport
he accidentally touched a white man’s hand
his friends beat him up, while he watched his father run away
and promised himself that he would never run away from his children
The family heads out to Oakland for the tournament
They meet with an agent who wants to sign Venus in a $3 million deal
but because the family isn’t ready to decide
the agent tells them that the offer is available until the tournament begins
Richard expresses his doubts over the deal to Rick
even though he thinks him is crazy, to try and want to turn this down
Venus tells Rick that she wants the agents to see how she is really good
After the conversation is over
the family is surprised by Tunde showing up for the competition
Venus first goes up against Shaun Stafford
Although the match is intense, Venus comes out victorious
Rick later finds out, that Venus is set to go up against the top tennis player in the
world, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario
Rick is not confident in Venus winning, but Richard is
Before the next match, Richard finds Serena staring at the arena
He knows that she feels left out, but he tells her that while Venus will become a great athlete
he believes Serena will be the greatest of all time
The night of the big match comes
Venus braids her hair and comes out onto the court to face Vicario
She starts off strong, which infuriates him
There is a break where Vicario tells others she is going to the bathroom
but she takes too long in what is seen as an intentional show of disrespect against
Venus
When she returns, Vicario begins to dominate and eventually defeats Venus
Venus later cries in the locker room, but Richard and Brandy go to cheer her up and
assure her that this is not the end for her
When they walk outside the field, they find other young girls cheering Venus on and seeing
her as a champion for them
The whole family, and Rick, looks on proudly
The ending text states that nine months later, Venus signed a contract with Reebok for $12
million at the age of 15
Serena later joined Venus on tour two years later, although Richard still put their education
and family above competing
At the age of 41, Venus has won Wimbledon five times
becoming the first African American woman to be ranked number one
At age 40, Serena became a 23-time grand slam champion, and is considered to be THE greatest
player in the history of tennis
just like Richard predicted
finally, videos and pictures were shown of, the real Richard Williams training the young
Venus and Serena