Genre: Drama/ Comedy
Runtime: 119 minutes
Year: 2017
Starring: Margot Robbie, Allison Janney, Sebastian Stan, Bobby Cannavale, Mckenna Grace
Description: Competitive ice skater Tonya Harding (Margot Robbie) rises amongst the ranks at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, but her future in the activity is thrown into doubt when her ex-husband (Sebastian Stan) intervenes.
Review: Driven by her rivalry with Nancy Kerrigan, Tonya Harding stepped onto the ice in Lillehammer in 1994. Her second time at the Olympics, but also her last. Her performance was dominated by a broken lace. She didn’t win a prize, while Kerrigan got a silver medal.
“I, Tonya” is not your everyday biopic. It’s a light satire, filled with irony and based on contradicting interviews. The real truth will probably never be revealed.
Leading lady Margot Robbie, who is fantastic by the way, even breaks the fourth wall a couple of times. Telling us how it really happened.
Nancy Kerrigan was Harding’s biggest rival and the all American girl. The complete opposite. When both girls were amazing figure skaters, Tonya was maybe better. She took more risks. But Harding’s image and background didn’t fit in that world. When Kerrigan was attacked after a training and someone shattered her knee, rumor had it that Harding had something to do with it. It was all over the news and at the time, she and Bill Clinton were the most famous people.
What is true and what isn’t, will always be the question. What we do know, is that Harding had a rough life. Her father left her when she was young and she stayed with her demanding and cold mother. LaVona was the one dragging her on the ice when she was four, constantly pushing her. She was loveless, tough and convinced that Tonya only did well when pushed.
And then there is Tonya’s stormy and violent relationship with Jeff Gillooly. He beat her and treated her bad.
Tonya didn’t blend in with the rest of the girls. She didn’t dance to classical music, but choose ZZ Top and she made her own outfits. But she was also the first American woman to perform a triple Axel, with success. She was good at what she did, but somehow always ruined it for herself. But Tonya kept fighting. When she fell, she got up, no matter how hard it was. And she deserves a certain respect for that.
Like I stated before, Margot Robbie is fantastic in her role. But it’s Allison Janney that steals the show as Tonya’s mother LaVona. Her character is comical and almost cartoonish, but she is also a terrible woman and treats her daughter like trash.
“I, Tonya” manages to combine extreme characters and the real humans they are deep inside. This movie really surprised me with its tone, not at all what I expected. Such a great film!
Rating: 4,5 / 5
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