I, Tonya (B+ or 3/4 stars)
I am a huge figure skating fan. So when the kinetic, wildly fun trailer dropped for 'I, Tonya' (a biopic about notorious Tonya Harding directed by Craig Gillespie) a few weeks ago, I COULDN'T have been more excited. Back in Jan. 1994, figure skater Nancy Kerrigan was clubbed on the knee by a couple of dopey thugs, so that rival Tonya Harding could have a better shot at winning in the Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. Tonya's story is told from several perspectives, here. There's a) Titular Tonya, herself (Margot Robbie); b) Her acid-tongued, abusive mother, LaVona Golden (Allison Janney); and c) Her dumb-dumb ex-hubby, Jeff Gillooly (Sebastian Stan). As a 3 yr. old in Portland, Oregon, Tonya was a bit of a phenom figure skater.
Her strength & athletic ability was exploited by the persistent bullying of her excessively critical stage mom. Caricatured as 'trashy Tonya', her lack of sophistication & working-class background were reflected in her hairstyle, costumes, choice of music (ZZ Top!) & a forceful style. Instead, judges preferred the more wholesome styles of Kristi Yamaguchi and ... Nancy Kerrigan. And YET, in 1991, Tonya routinely defeated her rivals by becoming the 1st American woman to complete the triple axel in competition; temporarily overcoming her class divisions & making her a certain "It" girl for the U.S. Figure Skating Association. But Tonya's turbulent on again/off again relationship with Jeff sent Tonya's skating results into turmoil and, according to this film {and common knowledge}, it was Jeff & his buddy - the delusional Shawn Eckhardt (Paul Walter Hauser) - who schemed to have Tonya stand atop the winners podium over Kerrigan ... at all costs. Although Tonya steadfastly maintains she had no part in the brainless knee-capping plan, she was eventually found guilty & banned from competitive skating for life.
The real-life Tonya Harding has given 'I, Tonya' her seal of approval, so it is not all surprising that the film is relatively sympathetic to her. Margot Robbie's portrayal of a warrior woman shaped by abuse, abandonment & class warfare is excellent. Despite co-dependent relationships with her abusers, as well as some piss-poor lifestyle decisions, Tonya willed herself into being the figure skating force that she was. And as written & directed by Craig Gillespie (of Lars & the Real Girl), all of this is accomplished with spirit & humor. Most of that humor comes in the depictions of the fools plotting the attack on Kerrigan. But so, too, is the film biting & DARK. It is painful in showing the incident's impact on Tonya. And it's DARK in its depiction of ever-present, demoralizing, dangerous abuse. I was surprised by how often someone was being slapped, punched, clubbed, beaten, stabbed or shot.
On a technical level, 'I, Tonya' impressed me quite a bit. Some of the best aspects of the film were the grainy cinematography, the period 70s/80s clothes (casual wear and PERFECT recreations of the skating outfits), & the hair/make-up. If it were up to me, this movie would be nominated at the Academy Awards for Costumes and Hair/Make-Up (hairstyles, bruising, aging make-up, etc). I also must commend the editing, which smoothly jumps forward & back in time to highlight a particular narrative point of reference. Like my friend Kevin noted, it reminded him of 2015's The Big Short, in that way.
This movie shows a different side of Tonya than we got 24 years ago, but ultimately, it's all about perspective. 'I, Tonya' challenges what we believe to be true. The film also employs multiple points of view & intentionally conflicting ones, as well. Sebastian Stan plays Gillooly as an abusive A-hole, a well-meaning supporter, as well a dim-witted criminal all at once -- he's great. Allison Janney transforms herself into Harding's toxic mother. You'd be forgiven for thinking Janney goes over-the-top, but trust me ... that is how crazy the real LaVona Golden was/is. Best of all are 2 scenes in which Janney just stares daggers at the TV screen looking at her daughter complete various performances. I think Janney does more in those 2 "moments" than any verbal, profane onslaught that she unleashed in most of her other scenes. It is SO hard to read on her face exactly what she could have been thinking in those 2 moments and ... I loved that.
Margot Robbie co-produced this film as well as starring in it. She trained to figure skate, too; most of those scenes are CGI-aided. Though, while I liked what she offered acting-wise {an incredible courtroom scene, for instance} it didn't always feel authentically Tonya. Having said that, Tonya is an enigma and, Robbie's is just a version of the sad, attention-starved Tonya we all don't truly know and probably never will, anyway. And without Robbie's dynamic portrayal, the movie wouldn't succeed in making us re-examine Tonya, the 'incident', or her fate. No one is going to condone what happened to Nancy Kerrigan, and Tonya might've known about the attack in advance -- she cannot be held blameless. However, Gillespie argues that there were 2 victims in this 'incident'. 'I, Tonya' exposes the commercialism of Olympic-level figure skating, as well as illustrating how Tonya's tenacity in the face of adversity was, unfortunately, a damning character flaw.
Her strength & athletic ability was exploited by the persistent bullying of her excessively critical stage mom. Caricatured as 'trashy Tonya', her lack of sophistication & working-class background were reflected in her hairstyle, costumes, choice of music (ZZ Top!) & a forceful style. Instead, judges preferred the more wholesome styles of Kristi Yamaguchi and ... Nancy Kerrigan. And YET, in 1991, Tonya routinely defeated her rivals by becoming the 1st American woman to complete the triple axel in competition; temporarily overcoming her class divisions & making her a certain "It" girl for the U.S. Figure Skating Association. But Tonya's turbulent on again/off again relationship with Jeff sent Tonya's skating results into turmoil and, according to this film {and common knowledge}, it was Jeff & his buddy - the delusional Shawn Eckhardt (Paul Walter Hauser) - who schemed to have Tonya stand atop the winners podium over Kerrigan ... at all costs. Although Tonya steadfastly maintains she had no part in the brainless knee-capping plan, she was eventually found guilty & banned from competitive skating for life.
The real-life Tonya Harding has given 'I, Tonya' her seal of approval, so it is not all surprising that the film is relatively sympathetic to her. Margot Robbie's portrayal of a warrior woman shaped by abuse, abandonment & class warfare is excellent. Despite co-dependent relationships with her abusers, as well as some piss-poor lifestyle decisions, Tonya willed herself into being the figure skating force that she was. And as written & directed by Craig Gillespie (of Lars & the Real Girl), all of this is accomplished with spirit & humor. Most of that humor comes in the depictions of the fools plotting the attack on Kerrigan. But so, too, is the film biting & DARK. It is painful in showing the incident's impact on Tonya. And it's DARK in its depiction of ever-present, demoralizing, dangerous abuse. I was surprised by how often someone was being slapped, punched, clubbed, beaten, stabbed or shot.
On a technical level, 'I, Tonya' impressed me quite a bit. Some of the best aspects of the film were the grainy cinematography, the period 70s/80s clothes (casual wear and PERFECT recreations of the skating outfits), & the hair/make-up. If it were up to me, this movie would be nominated at the Academy Awards for Costumes and Hair/Make-Up (hairstyles, bruising, aging make-up, etc). I also must commend the editing, which smoothly jumps forward & back in time to highlight a particular narrative point of reference. Like my friend Kevin noted, it reminded him of 2015's The Big Short, in that way.
This movie shows a different side of Tonya than we got 24 years ago, but ultimately, it's all about perspective. 'I, Tonya' challenges what we believe to be true. The film also employs multiple points of view & intentionally conflicting ones, as well. Sebastian Stan plays Gillooly as an abusive A-hole, a well-meaning supporter, as well a dim-witted criminal all at once -- he's great. Allison Janney transforms herself into Harding's toxic mother. You'd be forgiven for thinking Janney goes over-the-top, but trust me ... that is how crazy the real LaVona Golden was/is. Best of all are 2 scenes in which Janney just stares daggers at the TV screen looking at her daughter complete various performances. I think Janney does more in those 2 "moments" than any verbal, profane onslaught that she unleashed in most of her other scenes. It is SO hard to read on her face exactly what she could have been thinking in those 2 moments and ... I loved that.
Margot Robbie co-produced this film as well as starring in it. She trained to figure skate, too; most of those scenes are CGI-aided. Though, while I liked what she offered acting-wise {an incredible courtroom scene, for instance} it didn't always feel authentically Tonya. Having said that, Tonya is an enigma and, Robbie's is just a version of the sad, attention-starved Tonya we all don't truly know and probably never will, anyway. And without Robbie's dynamic portrayal, the movie wouldn't succeed in making us re-examine Tonya, the 'incident', or her fate. No one is going to condone what happened to Nancy Kerrigan, and Tonya might've known about the attack in advance -- she cannot be held blameless. However, Gillespie argues that there were 2 victims in this 'incident'. 'I, Tonya' exposes the commercialism of Olympic-level figure skating, as well as illustrating how Tonya's tenacity in the face of adversity was, unfortunately, a damning character flaw.