Boy, do I have a completely different opinion of Tonya Harding after seeing Craig Gillespie’s (Lars and the Real Girl, The Finest Hours) I, Tonya. The movie revolves around the 1994 Winter Olympics when her main competition for a gold medal that year (Nancy Kerrigan) had her knee taken out after a 1993 skating session in Detroit, MI, by someone on Harding’s payroll. Kerrigan’s recorded screams of “Why?! Why?!” that were then shown in media outlets worldwide still resonate in our heads. Harding became the punchline of every late-night talk show host’s monologue. Unlike any other time in history, we had a physical, life-altering altercation between two of the best competitors in their sport. Even without all the facts, we identified Kerrigan as the protagonist and Harding as the antagonist. And rightfully so. However, it is made clear from the film’s first scene that what we were about to see was a “mostly true, wildly contradictory” account of what happened. Yes, Gillespie only gave us one side of the story. Still, it’s a side that makes us think of Harding as an extremely sympathetic, misinterpreted, and even likable character who was, perhaps, as much a victim as Kerrigan was. I have a newfound affinity towards Harding that I hadn’t had in the 24 years since the nearly 25 years since the incident happened.
This movie certainly will amass some Academy Award nominations. And it will win at least one award (Allison Janney for Best Supporting Actress). As I’ve mentioned quite a few times, 2017 has been the worst year for movies since the inception of my blog (2010). I have yet to research, but 2017 is probably this century’s worst year for movies. There were many okay to good movies, but I have yet to see a movie that is “great.” My favorites of the year, Wind River and Life, were early to mid-year releases. Neither of those two movies will receive a single Academy Award nomination. My favorite movie that will likely get nominated for Best Picture (at the time of this writing) is The Shape of Water. There have been years since I began doing movie reviews, and this film would not even register in my End of Year Top 10. I mention this because a movie like I, Tonya might have earned a couple of award nominations in a different year.
But 2017 it might earn as many as 6 to 8, including Best Picture, which is crazy. I remember watching this preview for the first time, and I couldn’t even tell if it was a legit biopic or a spoof. The trailer was cheesy, and I chuckled, thinking that all those associated with the movie wasted their time and money. When I asked a friend if the movie was similar to the trailer, she said it had that E True Hollywood Story vibe. I was less than enthusiastic about seeing it but knew I would have to because of the nominations it would likely receive. While many parts of it were cheesy, it made the film unique. It helped separate it from the other movies that will compete with it for Best Picture. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed and learned from the movie. It was an entertaining watch, and I recommend it to those who make it a habit to watch the movies that will get nominated in at least one of the six big Academy Award categories.
I, Tonya is very untraditional in its presentation. Much of it reminded me of Fargo, which, ironically, was a movie I compared Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri to. Much of that had to do with its lead actress, Frances McDormand, but that wasn’t the only reason. But I, Tonya is even more Fargo-esque in that it has cartoon-like characters and scenes that are so farfetched that you’d never be able to believe them if they didn’t actually happen. The film is broken up with interviews from many of the film’s key players (in the present day) reflecting on the past, which started when Harding was four years old and over until she was about 24.
We learned early on that nothing is ever anybody’s fault. The caricature acting performances really allow this movie to shine (much to my dismay). Relative newbie Margot Robbie (Suicide Squad, The Wolf of Wall Street) is as fabulous as Harding in this, her biggest and finest performance to date. Less than five years into her career, Robbie is a lock for a Best Actress nomination, which is saying something especially great in a year that is going to keep heavyweights like Jessica Chastain, Judy Dench, Michelle Williams, and Emma Stone all on the sidelines for really McDormand, Meryl Streep (The Post), and three relatively unknown household names. This year’s Best Actress field is stacked. Ultimately, McDormand will secure the second Academy Award win (Fargo) of her career. The nomination is as good as a win (though try telling her that). She’ll be the only first-time nominee in this category.
As great as Robbie was as Tonya, it was her mother, LaVona Golden (Allison Janney – The Way, Way Back, Juno), who was the movie’s scene-stealer. A lock for a Best Supporting Actress nominee, Janney is the hands-on favorite (by far) to win the Oscar. She has never been nominated for an Oscar before. Still, she has multiple Emmy nominations and wins for numerous television shows, including The West Wing, Masters of Sex, and Mom. A quick rundown of her shows that she has a staggering seven wins and 13 nominations between her time on these three shows. I am flabbergasted by this. However, I, Tonya is her biggest achievement on the silver string. She plays Tonya’s mother in such a vigilant way that we want to call our mothers and say thank you, even if some of us (not including me; my mother is amazing) might not have had the best mothers. She is conniving and ruthless. I don’t like to swear on this blog, but Tonya’s mother was a real bi***.
Regardless of how you felt about Tonya going into this movie and even its mostly true, wildly contradictory disclaimer, you cannot help but view the disgraced figure skater in a much more favorable light after this film than you did before going into it. Tonya was a victim of emotional, mental, and physical abuse, first by her mother and then by her deadbeat boyfriend/husband, Jeff Gillooly (Sebastian Stan – Logan Lucky, Black Swan). You begin to wonder if she ever had a fair chance at life. Maybe she didn’t. Outskating girls twice her age as early as age four, Tonya’s first coach, Diane Rawlinson (Julianne Nicholson – August: Osage County, Black Mass), knows she has a phenom at her fingertips from the very first time she saw her skate. She earns praise and wins awards as a child and as a teenager. Still, she often did not receive the recognition or top awards that she felt she deserved from the skating judges because she didn’t play the part of America’s sweetheart like her competitors did. Tonya could never get past the belief that the best ice skater should be regarded as so. To both her credit and her detriment, she was unwilling to fit the mold established by those before her.
When she met Jeff at the age of 15, her overbearing mother came with the two of them on her first date. LaVona was Tonya’s most prominent critic throughout her life, and Janney plays the authoritative figure perfectly. The eccentric mother could not praise Tonya for anything she did that was correct but was the first to rip her off when she did something wrong or even something that wasn’t her liking. She had a mother who was never happy and one who abused her mentally and emotionally. She took this abuse because she didn’t know any different. The difference with Jeff was that his abuse was physical. But, again, Tonya didn’t think she deserved any better, so she took it. And she also naively and continually believed him when he said he would stop. But each time she took him back, his violent side would get darker and darker until the emotional hold he held over Tonya suffocated her. It was miraculous that she could live a regular life, let alone that of a US Olympic hopeful.
This relationship further showed that Tonya Harding didn’t fit the typical mold of a United States figure skater. She didn’t look the part. She didn’t dress the part. She didn’t play the part. But, similarly to her feelings about other aspects of her life, she felt like she was being discriminated against. She thought she was the best skater and shouldn’t have to dress like a princess in a skating competition. Enter Jeff and his henchmen Derrick Smith (Anthony Reynolds) and Shane Stant (Ricky Russert). The hope is to send enough death threats to Kerrigan so that she’ll drop out of the 1994 Olympics (Harding herself had received death threats). Tonya was aware of the plan to send death threats, but that was as far as her guilt took her. It wasn’t her idea. She didn’t have anything to do with it. She just knew about it. And the physical assault on Kerrigan’s knee was something that Tonya nor Jeff ever could have imagined. And when the judge sentences her for her role in the assault, your heart can’t help but break for her. Her entire story comes crashing down on you right then, and you realize that all she had going for her in her life was ice skating. We assume someone in a position like hers has a ton going for her. But with Tonya Harding, that just wasn’t the case.
I, Tonya was not a movie I expected to enjoy. But when it started receiving Oscar buzz, I knew it would be something I would end up seeing. Despite not being the type of music I typically seek, I was educated and entertained. I recommend the movie. Even if you know the Tonya Harding story, remind yourself that it’s been 25 years. I recommend a revisit.
Plot 9/10
Character Development 8/10
Character Chemistry 8/10
Acting 8.5/10 (two great performances that will land two Oscar nominations, but there was some overacting here…granted it was staged that way…but it’s not my favorite style)
Screenplay 8.5/10
Directing 8.5/10
Cinematography 9.5/10
Sound 9/10
Hook and Reel 8.5/10
Universal Relevance 9.5/10
86%
B+
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