Venus and Serena

Venus and Serena, the documentary about a year in the life of the two most accomplished women in professional tennis is not only inspiring, its also very good. Directed by Maiken Baird and Michelle Major, Venus and Serena will make you laugh, upset you, as well as educate you and inspire you. You see what trials and tribulations the sisters had to overcome during the 2011 tour and because of that, I give Venus and Serena three and a half buckets of Killer Korn.




 Off the bat I want to state that I am not a huge fan of the sports documentary, mainly because they very rarely tell you anything you didn't already know and all they want to do is make you a bigger fan. I am however, a HUGE fan of tennis. I used to be a fan of just men's tennis primarily, that was until Venus and Serena hit the scene, suddenly I found myself tuning in to the women's matches with the same frequency as I did the men's. It was like, I never gave a damn about golf until there was Tiger, but then I started checking if Tiger was over or under par, or if he made the cut. Same with the Venus and Serena. I never thought for a second what it must have been like or took for either of them to be as good as they were. This movie shows you all of that and then some.

Shot during the difficult 2011 tour, the movie also sprinkles in flashbacks of the early days and how Venus and Serena started out. They were two little skinny, precocious, and very confident girls from Compton California hitting used tennis balls from the local country club. Both were coached by their taskmaster of a father who had a dream, a vision that would take his daughters to the pinnacle of the tennis world and get the family out of the ghetto. I don't think even he could have envisioned the success his little girls would achieve, though he may tell you differently.

With Chris Rock and ex President Bill Clinton among the people who make an appearance in the movie, you get the sense just how deep the fandom runs for these women. Venus and Serena is all about whether the sisters can come back for their maladies they suffered during 2010. Venus was diagnosed with an auto-immune disease that saps her strength and brings on joint pain, numbness, and serious fatigue. Serena was close to losing her life, having been diagnosed with blood clots in her lungs. No one was sure if the two would ever play again but this documentary not only shows the love the women have for each other, but also the fire that burns white hot within them to be the best.

If you love the Williams' sisters then you will definitely enjoy this movie. If you hate them then this movie may change that mindset. You won't walk away loving them but you may walk away appreciating all they have done for their sport. They played and dominated through their parents divorce as well as the murder of their oldest sister Yetunde Price, who was gunned down in her car in what's believed to be due to a case of mistaken identity. Maiken and Michelle were given unprecedented access to the sisters as they worked through rehab and struggled to get back in shape to play at the level they are accustomed to. In one instance you see how Serena became addicted to Karaoke during this time you won't be able to do anything but laugh. And for the record, she is a really bad singer.

With music provided by Wyclef Jean, Venus and Serena is well worth the price of admission, if you care. If you don't like women's tennis or you don't care for either Venus or Serena then don't even waste your time. However, if you ever wondered where these two amazingly talented women came from, what drove them to achieve, and what drives them to succeed, then I highly recommend Venus and Serena and I'll see you at the theater.