When the new year gets into full swing, that is when I usually hear about all these films I had somehow missed in the previous year. Where was I when the trailer and posters dropped for Phantom Thread? Or Call Me By Your Name? I heard about these films from generally one of two sources; reviews by critics I respect, or a friend who had heard good things/wanted to see it. The latter is how I came about I, Tonya.
My friend Val and I pretty much see every movie together, so it's almost a guarantee that if I've seen a film, she saw it too. She was the one who brought I, Tonya to my attention back in December of 2017. She was talking about this bio-pic about Tonya Harding, the Olympic figure skater, and it was going to be starring Margot Robbie. My initial reaction was one of indifference. I was never into the Olympics all that much. Even now, with the Winter Olympics in Korea going on, I cannot pull myself to a television long enough to watch an entire event. I catch glimpses, and I hear "good things" about a certain Canadian athlete or two, but otherwise, it passes me by in a haze. And I figured this film would do the same. Then the reviews came out...
Everyone was raving about this film, and it received nomination after nomination for its cast. I figured, at the very least, it would be an interesting look back on a period of history I knew next to nothing about, as I was 4 years old at the time of the "incident" - the attack on Nancy Kerrigan, a rival skater to Tonya, in 1994. I was barely aware of where I lived at the time, let alone Olympic figure skater's names, especially in a country that I was not represented by in the Olympics. Needless to say, I was was going in completely blind for this film. And I got so much more from it than I ever expected to.
Spoilers Ahead
I, Tonya is a faux-documentary style bio-pic with dark comedy elements added in to brighten what is ultimately a very depressing story of one woman's life and her one moment of fame tainted by scandal and conspiracy. The film was directed by Craig Gillespie, who is also known The Finest Hours, Disney's Million Dollar Arm, and the 2011 remake of Fright Night. I had never seen any of these films, so I was woefully unfamiliar with his work.
The film largely focuses on Tonya's relationship to those closest to her in her life, as the film is shown with multiple viewpoints in a faux-documentary style. Each person tells their version of how things happened, with some lining up, and others being wildly contradictory. This is a great element of story-telling, as the incident itself was up for debate as to how much Tonya was aware of what happened, let alone planning it. For example, Tonya, played by Robbie, is explaining her relationship to her ex-husband at the time of certain events, which was abusive, relating it to her mother's behavior towards her, which was also extremely violent. Her ex, Jeff Gillooly, played by Sebastian Stan, says that she was the one who was manipulative and mentally abusive, then showing their two versions played back-to-back, with the characters turning to camera, breaking the fourth wall, and addressing the discrepancies. This was particularly great during the scenes of abuse because the violence was pretty intense, but was mitigated by some levity in the characters being able to turn to camera and make a snide remark or joke at the other character's expense, something we've all imagined doing at one point or another. The scenes of abuse are hard to watch, but they help to illustrate what kind of environment Tonya, her husband, her mother, and those interacting with them, were experiencing at the time.
The filmmakers and actors used archival interviews and footage of the actual people to base their performances on, with the footage being shown at the end of the film in credits. There is an eeriness to the accuracy being portrayed by these actors, and justifying their nominations in various acting categories across this awards season. Allison Janney plays Tonya's mom, LaVona, a 50 cigarette smoking a day, alcohol drinking, diner waitress, abusive mother who pushed her child to be the star she could never have been. There is a sadness in the dynamic between Robbie and Janney that you so rarely ever see on film, which is the broken relationship of a mother and daughter who could never truly care for each other. Even at the end of the film, when you think it's going to pull a sports movie ending, where the parent finally admits that they're proud of their child, no matter what, you find out that no, her mom really is just a terrible human being. Not everyone is capable of redemption, and most don't ever seek it because they do not see what they are doing as wrong. That is the brilliance of Janney's performance; to be so despicable, yet there is so much reality to it. This is a true movie villain for the ages, but she is not inhuman. It is almost too human that it makes you uncomfortable to watch because of how much it resonates with you, regardless of who you are.
Robbie is in a whole other league from her previous work. Harley Quinn is but a distant memory, and Tonya has throughly washed my mouth of the distaste of Suicide Squad. She portrays Tonya as both cruel and sympathetic. She is cruel due to her upbringing and surroundings, but she is redeemable, and strives to just find purpose in what she is doing. Which is why it is heartbreaking to watch the scene where is given her sentencing for the collusion of the incident. As the judge reads her sentence, multiple conditions are laid out, but the final condition is a lifetime ban from the sport of figure skating. This breaks Tonya, and she pleads to receive jail time if it means she can compete. But the ban was enacted, and Tonya Harding never skated professionally again. Her break down, and the feeling of loss over the one positive outlet she had in her life, a life soaked with abuse, abandonment-issues, fame-hunger, and isolation, is almost debilitating to watch.
The film is mostly set in the 80's and early-90's, which means some amazing hair and make-up, and accurate music choices to help punctuate the mood of the time. The costumes feel authentic, lived in. The same goes for the sets, which is a lot of dilapidated bungalows, community arenas, and smoke-filled diners. Nothing feels extravagant, other than the moments during the Olympics, and even then, there is a dated stamp on it. It feels as a product of the time. The films is well paced and well edited. The back and forth between the points of view characters is interwoven so meticulously that you cannot take out a scene without it directly affecting another. It's as if this was the ONLY way to tell this story. There's a hilarious montage of Tonya training with her coach after she's been out of competition for a while, and her coach turns to camera commenting how Tonya ACTUALLY did these exercises to get back in shape for the Olympics. And again, it's so well timed and paced, with the comedy seeping from every second they could get out of the film. Even during the more depressing moments of the film, heavy dramatic moments, there are still spaces that are used for some dark humor.
I cannot say there were any major issues with the films, other than my one issue with Robbie being mis-cast as a teenage Tonya Harding, as it's just hard for me to believe that the actress who plays her at 12 tuns into Margot Robbie not three years later. Robbie is tasked with playing Tonya from ages 15-40, and while she plays her wonderfully from 20 on, it's ages 15-19 I have the hardest time buying. They had younger female actresses in earlier parts of the film, when Tonya is ages 4 through 12, but the jump from 12 to 15 is jarring, as Robbie is very clearly an adult woman, and almost makes me wish there had been another in-between actress. Same goes for Sebastian Stan playing an older, but still meant to be teenager, Jeff.
There is also something to be said about the commentary being made in this film, about how media can very quickly spin a story into whatever direction it chooses, especially when information is still being accumulated. When there are holes in logic, people will find ways to close the gaps, even if it takes leaps in logic to do so. The film, by in large, lets the viewer make up their own mind about what happened in January 1994. My personal beliefs, after watching the film, and doing research afterwards, is that Tonya was likely aware of the plot to send threatening letters to Nancy, but had no intention of causing harm to her, nor did she perpetrate the crime. When you see the kinds of "geniuses" she was surrounded by, and how easily their actions and plan was traced back to them, it's pretty easy to say that the FBI found their guys responsible. Tonya's hunger for fame as a means of finding success in her very unfortunate life is brought to such a great head when the fame is overshadowed by the attack on Nancy, to a point where no one cares how good she can skate, or the fact that she was the first woman to successfully do a triple axle in competition in history. They only care about whether other not she busted Nancy's knee in to make the team for the 1994 Olympics. Seems incredibly relevant for our modern insta-famous age.
Overall, I greatly enjoy this movie, and feel it has weight and a message that should be heard. It's a rare film where the movie does not end happily, with everything wrapping up neatly, or with the characters getting what they wanted. They just come to terms with just how broken the world they made for themselves truly is.
Final Score: 9/10
I would recommend this for anyone interested in a good bio-pic, especially one done in a unique style and format and great actors to play them. This is, hands down, my favourite Margot Robbie and Allison Janney performance from each of them, so check it out for some amazing acting and a killer 80's soundtrack.