'I, Tonya' Review

Nominated For: Best Actress; Margot Robbie, Best Supporting Actress; Allison Janney, and Best Film Editing.

Won: Best Supporting Actress; Allison Janney.

I, Tonya steps out on thin ice to tell the true story behind the rise and fall of Tonya Harding's competitive figure skating career. I, Tonya details the significant events of Harding's upbringing and the surrounding circumstances of the most fascinating figure skating scandal in sports history involving an attack on fellow Olympic competitor, Nancy Kerrigan. 

Craig Gillespie directs the harrowing Harding biopic in the similar self-referential fourth wall-breaking style of The Wolf Of Wall Street (which also, oddly enough, featured Margot Robbie in a break-out role). It largely thanks to Steven Rogers' sharp script, which is sure to keep audiences on their toes, but the sweet soundtrack and exemplary line delivery from the commendable cast certainly didn't hurt. Gillespie presents the events in an interesting manner though, as aged-up actors stage interviews with Harding, her abusive ex-husband, her monster mother, and moronic meathead of a body guard that are interwoven with the story so each character gets a say in "what actually happened." However, as you'll soon find out, none of these narrators are particularly reliable sources. 

Gillespie clarifies from the get-go via opening text that the film presented is a depiction of the events based on conflicting accounts, so most events aren't entirely accurate, and the aforementioned interviews only add further credence to the claim. However, as unbelievable as some of the events seem, nothing felt falsely fabricated for the purposes of drama or comedy. Gillespie and Rogers lean more on the sadistically comedic side of things, because otherwise viewers would be overwhelmed by the more melodramatic reality of everything Harding endured. 

Gillespie isn't foolish enough to joke about domestic abuse, so those moments ring true, but he was clever enough to realize this story required a dark comedic approach to avoid bogging down audiences too deeply into Harding's harsh reality. Harding was an exceptional athlete who got screwed over by circumstance, and the age-old anecdote that "life isn't fair" really resonates with Harding's story. Harding had the skill, but lacked the financial resources and happy home life, so the very idea of becoming an accomplished figure skater was a hard-fought, up-hill battle for her. 

Which is precisely why I admire I, Tonya. This isn't a traditional, tired inspirational sports drama about an athlete overcoming adversity and emerging victorious or simply satisfied with their performance. Instead, we're shown a story of an athlete who not only overcame adversity, but got dragged straight back to the bottom of it because of the idiots around her. Aside from being the first American figure skater and woman to ever land the triple axel, Tonya never comes out on top. She rarely gets the scores she deserves due to her attitude and dress, while the less-talented skaters receive higher marks on account of costuming... So when Tonya finally succeeds at something never before done, you truly feel the significance. Not simply because the feat is astounding, but because it's rewarding to see Tonya receive adequate attention for her exceptional ability. Only then, is everything undone by no fault of her own.

If there's one event in I, Tonya that I believe to have been accurately portrayed, it would certainly have to be that Tonya Harding only became an accessory to the attack on Nancy Kerrigan after the fact. Based on the internet research I did afterwards, it seems it's agreed upon that Harding wasn't as embroiled in the scandal as the media wanted people to believe, but rather knew about it and kept quiet to avoid the eventual disqualification that came her way.

On the filmmaking front, cinematographer Nicolas Karakatsanis pulls off some terrific tracking shots and Peter Nashel composes some interesting, heavy themes to contrast the high-flying soundtrack full of hits from the '80s and '90s. As for the skating, Margot Robbie did actually get in the rink quite a bit and underwent a couple months of training beforehand to ensure she could at least be out on the ice. Figure-skating body doubles and CG were implemented to great effect in order to accomplish Harding's more daring feats

Margot Robbie strides forward with not only the best performance of her career thus far, but easily one of the best performances from a lead actress all year (She should definitely be receiving her first Oscar nomination come January). Robbie's depiction of Harding showcases a rather impressive range from the young actress as she plays a broken individual shaped by the tragedy of circumstance. We witness an outpouring of emotional vulnerability from Robbie in one particular scene where Harding has to smile amidst the turmoil of her personal life in order to make the right impression out on the ice. Margot Robbie's acting career has only just begun to blossom, but I can only imagine that her portrayal of Tonya Harding will stand as a career-best performance for quite some time.

At her side, Sebastian Stan projects a two-pronged portrayal of Jeff Gillooly as both an immensely unlikable man and an innately swell guy. As Robbie says in the film, he's the kind of guy who can talk himself out of anything. There's no doubt though that Paul Walter Hauser was the perfect casting choice to play Tonya's thickheaded bodyguard, Shawn Eckhardt. Nearly every line of dialogue from Hauser is absurdly idiotic, so good luck resisting the urge to laugh anytime he opens his mouth to talk about being an expert in counter terrorism.

However, it's Allison Janney's portrayal of Tonya's no-nonsense, foulmouthed mother, LaVona Golden, that stands above the other supporting stars. In a year of film dominated by films featuring turbulent relationships between parents and their children (The Book of Henry, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Lady Bird, and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri to name a few), Janney manages to stand apart from the crowd as a mother who's only able to provide tough love and she really sells the rough, hellish exterior.

I, Tonya is equal parts hilarious and heart-wrenching. While Gillespie doesn't always nail a deft balance between humor and seriousness and the film runs a bit long, that doesn't change the fact that I, Tonya sticks the landing as a phenomenal performance piece sure to scoop up significant awards attention in the coming days. 

Film Assessment: B+