MPAA Rating: R/ Genre: Biographical Sports Mockumentary/Stars: Margot Robbie, Sebastian Stan, Allison Janney, Julianne Nicholson, Caitlin Carver, Bojana Novakovic, Paul Walter Hauser, Bobby Cannavale, Dan Triandiflou, Ricky Russert, Anthony Reynolds, Cassidy Balkcom, Fi Dieter, McKenna Grace, Maizie Smith/ Runtime: 119 minutes
I think it is a safe statement to make that after a baton-rocking assailant decided to take a swing or two at iconic figure skater Nancy Kerrigan and wound up doing horrific damage to her knee following a practice immediately before the U.S. Championships and just mere weeks before the Olympic Games for the long ago year of 1994, the resultant fallout managed to keep the entire country hooked and saw more integral stories pushed from the forefront and a scandal-fixated media culture conjured up that tragically is still very much part of the world around us even now. Yet what started out as a very much, for all intents and purposes, isolated tragic attack soon blew up into something more when it was uncovered that the ex-husband of Kerrigan’s closest competition, one Tonya Harding, may have been the one to spearhead the attack. Even worse however was the allegation that Tonya herself not only may have had prior knowledge, but that she approved the plan before it went into action. Thus as the Olympic Games got closer and closer, America would witness as something else got closer in the process. Namely an impending clash between two of America’s most talented figure skaters, one a victim of a horrific attack and the other very much a blunt and hotheaded outcast, took over the media and actually proved to be more engaging than a catfight between two women fighting over their shared man on an episode of The Jerry Springer Show. Indeed for those who were alive at that particular time and who also remember it, those people will be the first to tell you that you literally could not switch to the nightly news without witnessing at least one recap of seeing Kerrigan’s pain-torn face just hurling a string of “Why?!”’s straight into the camera in the immediate aftermath of the attack or a seemingly nonstop onslaught of stories from a CBS anchor named Connie Chung as she intensely harassed Tonya as she trained for the Olympics. Suffice it to say that when taking into not only the aforementioned things, but also everything else related to it that happened afterwards, this ongoing saga was very much the dictionary definition of scandal in the United States at the time, mostly because O.J. Simpson and Shonda Rhimes hadn’t made a mark on the realm of pop culture yet. Of course it should also surprise none of you to learn that, like a delightful swarm of piranha, the world devoured every single bit of it they could get to the point that the world eventually left Tonya high and dry in the aftermath whilst also desiring in no way to give her any recognition for any of her contributions to the world of figure skating. Suffice it to say the whole ordeal was, by all accounts, not only frighteningly real but also very bizarre as well. A distinct blend incidentally that I think is brilliantly showcased in the slice of cinema I am reviewing today, 2017’s I, Tonya. Indeed here is a riveting exploration of the wild and fairly insane life of its titular “heroine” that is more than just a phenomenally cast and extremely well-made film. Rather it is also one that, by merging together humor with an edge, drama that is downright scorching, and a mockumentary component that is quite funny, is one that is able to show us a side of Tonya that reveals both a highly flawed person with severe psychological scars, but also one whose greatest crime maybe just maybe wasn’t the whole Nancy Kerrigan affair. Rather, it might have been the fact that she just plain and simply had an extremely bad habit of making some choices that were nothing short of downright moronic.
The plot is as follows: Set up courtesy of a series of interviews with the principal parties involved that are taking place a good solid two decades after the infamous Kerrigan debacle, we see that this slice of cinema right off the bat presents us with a take on Tonya Harding who is still very much as fiery and outspoken as ever. To that end, the film the proceeds to lead to our “heroine” flashing back on all the misery and woe she has suffered in her life. A pair of elements that first came into her life when she was three years old. This is because even though all the way back then she was dead set on being an incredible female figure skater, we see that the young Tonya is also the tragic victim of seemingly never ending misery and anguish from her seriously sinister to say nothing of highly abusive mom. Yet lest you think that once she grew up this abuse from all sides would come to an end you would be sadly mistaken. This is because as the abuse onslaught is just transferred over from her mom over to her first love, a guy by the name of Jeff Gillooly, who she also decides to marry, we see that things might be even worse. This is because she may display a phenomenal degree of talent Tonya in a variety of ways is still very much not being taken seriously as a figure skater by anyone not the least of which because of how she presents herself to the various people who make up that world. Yet things soon reach a head for Tonya when a fellow figure skater by the name of Nancy Kerrigan finds herself the victim of psychological torture courtesy of Jeff, who by now she has split up from, and a fairly moronic friend of his named Shawn Eckhardt who is delusional enough to see himself as Tonya’s “security detail”. However when what started out as just a series of intimidating letters soon segues over into a chillingly act of brutal violence, the ensuing insanity and chaos threaten to not only derail all that Tonya has worked for, but also put her in a spot of trouble with the sport she loves more than anything that there really is no coming back from if placed there…..
Now if you remove from the equation the sheer amount of idiocy on display, you will find that more than anything else it was the very obvious differences that existed between Harding and Kerrigan that proved to be the fuel for society’s obsession all those years ago and which also proves to be the driving force for this slice of cinema from the late 2010s. That’s because, even with the fact that she came from a working class family in Boston, Nancy always tried to showcase a fairly fashionable as well as beautiful style whenever she went out on the ice. A style incidentally that saw her time and time again earn the love of both fans and judges who felt she was everything that a female figure skater from the United States should aspire to be. Then there was Tonya and she was a very athletic skater who, among other attributes, had a very biting personality, was unashamedly proud of being viewed as a “redneck”, engaged in routines that weren’t exactly lively, enjoyed using heavy metal in said routines, made her own costumes, and engaged in fairly halfhearted skating choreography with not much style or flair. A mixture of ingredients incidentally that saw her never score well with judges and seemingly consistently looked down on by most of the rest of the skating community. As a result of this consistently being brushed over time and time despite some legitimately skilled accomplishments, we see that Tonya was desperate to earn a spot in both the limelight, but also in the annals of history. Well I think it’s safe to say she got just that, but was the cost for her to get them really worth it and was it even close to being on her own terms? Suffice it to say I really can’t begin to tell you that let alone who is telling you the truth about everything that happened and, to the film’s credit, it doesn’t even attempt to find the threads of truth amidst all the various contradictory narratives. Rather, it just lets every character give their take on everything that happened and then leave it up to each and every one of us as movie goers decide who we would like to believe. Whoever you decide to believe however, there is no denying that every single perspective in this is quite animated (to put it lightly), and the surprising instances where the actors choose to break the 4th wall and talk to you, the viewer directly always manage to conjure up chuckles that are very much appreciated. We also see that this slice of cinema is able to deploy faux interviews that are a lot more present day which permit nearly every party involved an opportunity to look back on just how flawed they were as people, make observations on what is going on in the movie at that particular time, and also refute what other characters have said. Along with that, this narrative pushes forward at a delightfully kinetic tempo due in large part to incredibly well-thought out Oscar-nodded gaining work from the editing department that manages to weave together all the distinct narrative components, flashbacks, and interview moments into a slice of cinema that is fairly harmonious to say nothing of a fanfreakingtastic musical soundtrack made up of wonderful songs from the 70s and 80s like Barracuda for example that manages to be wonderfully in synch with what’s going on in the film at that time. Also I know that the purposefully turbulent to say nothing of quite hectic manner this slice of cinema is presented will keep you wonderfully off kilter whilst also contradicting the incredibly painstaking craftsmanship that helps this slice of cinema stand out beautifully. Also helping that is the fact that not only are the moments of this film that involves actual figure skating downright exhilarating, but the fact that this film’s helmer is insightful enough to showcase for us a group of enduring moments with as much in the way of accuracy as he possibly can.
With that said, perhaps the crown jewel in this slice of cinema’s collection of positives would undoubtedly be the performances by the truly gifted cast. This starts with Margot Robbie who is downright phenomenal in the titular role as she manages to showcase in a spot-on manner the quirks, way of talking, and the equal parts furiously and cynically rebellious vibe that are very much a part of who the real-life Tonya Harding is. Yes she is by no means the right height for this very infamous individual and she is also in no way believable in the stretch of the film where she has to play Tonya as a very gangly teenager. Fortunately after the narrative makes it way past that stage in Tonya’s life, we see Margot take hold of the character and bring Harding’s highly volatile personality roaring vividly to life. Indeed I know it might not be that difficult to portray this woman as a temperamental redneck witch and yes Robbie does give us that for a section of the movie. At the same time though, she also contributes a fair degree of nuanced pathos to her performance to help us see who the genuine person behind the looney tune-like façade really is. Indeed it is an absolutely magnificent turn that most assuredly earned in every way the Oscar nod it got for Best Actress. This leads to the powerful and award-winning work done in this by Allison Janney as Tonya’s rude, sarcastic, mean, and just plain abusive to a hilt mother LaVona. Indeed she may be shorter than everybody else during her screen time, but she more than makes up for that by making this woman downright despicable albeit wonderfully grounded with her actions and especially sinister with the bile that she is seemingly nonstop spewing at our heroine every single moment. Indeed this is the kind of woman who makes Kathy Bates from Misery seem like a fairly wonderful person to be around and Janney nails it through and through Yet even though the performances in this by Robbie and Janney are downright powerhouse turns, I also feel that I would be amiss if I didn’t mention the work done in this by Sebastian Stan as Jeff Gillooly. Indeed his portrayal of the thin and nasally-sounding Gillooly might have you thinking this nerdy character is one that wandered into this film by mistake thinking that he was auditioning for Revenge of the Nerds on Ice. Soon though Stan shows this might have been a bit of a facade and instead starts to showcase a sinister facet to Gillooly’s personality that makes this one role from Stan that is chilling (pun intended) in the most nightmarish way possible. Suffice it to say that the performers in this all did their homework on their respective parts and as such give us as movie goers performances that are nothing short of magnetic even whilst also being fairly (and dare I say appropriately?) repulsive as well.
All in all I guess you should know that it may be operating with a fairly snarky vibe about it, but the slice of cinema that is I, Tonya is by no means a happy-go-lucky story. Nor for that matter does it really have all that much to say, positivity wise, about either its main character or those of us who choose to give this film a watch. This is because, much in the same way as the main character herself, this slice of cinema claims that America also without a care in the world lended a hand whilst simultaneously engaged in her complete and utter black listing to say nothing of severe fall from grace. A belief that the slice of cinema not only repeatedly slings our way, but it also doesn’t aim to make audiences feel any less guilty about it either. Yet lest you think that this is all being made to be America’s fault, we also see that our ever faultless, and constantly obstinate heroine never takes responsibility for her actions, whatever they may have been. Yet even though we, much in the same vein as every single person who has ever looked down on her throughout the course of her life, we might not be fond of or even like Tonya Harding, but there is no denying that this slice of cinema does manage to acquire for her a degree, however begrudgingly, of both regard and pity respectively. Suffice it to say I do feel the question must be asked: does Tonya still warrant being viewed as a pariah of sorts in regards to her corner of the world or has the time come for everyone to maybe just turn the other cheek? Either way you choose to answer that question, there is no denying that I, Tonya does manage to showcase for us this infamous individual’s wild and crazy life to say nothing of the whole knee-bashing predicament with a riveting blend of comedy as well as emotion respectively. Indeed this slice of cinema does a wonderful job, complete with a collection of powerful performances and top-flight behind the camera work, at swiftly dropping you face first into a landscape of abuse, fisticuffs both physical and emotional, and ground-breaking idiocy that really does serve as riveting proof that truth can be wilder than even the most exaggerated fiction found in a pulp magazine in the grocery store check-out line. Suffice it might not have been listed among the Best Picture nominees for 2017, but this slice of cinema is easily one film that you should definitely check out. Just make sure to cover your knees when you do. On a scale of 1-5 I give I, Tonya a solid 4 out of 5.
