Yo, Tonya

Have been anticipating this release for quite some time. Why? Well I love a good biopic, the cast immediately attracted my attention and it's figure skating. Not often you see an ice skating film. Thankfully, this was bonkers and I loved the fact it was crazily stupid. Tonya Harding was famous for being a bad tempered figure skater in the 90's. This biopic triple axels (oh God I'm too good...) into her family and marital relationships, as well as exploring "the incident". A timely release considering the Winter Olympics, showcasing the grace and endurance required for figure skating. Pushing the sport aside, the focus is primarily on Tonya and her marriage to Jeff whilst intertwining her tough upbringing by her mother. Seemingly Tonya is portrayed to be spoilt and a fame seeker, but I consistently sympathised with her. Her pure skating talent being diminished by judges due to her presentation skills and media attention to the sport. It's a harsh reality, and the film made me feel for her. Played eloquently by Margot Robbie who was able to capture both her solid exterior and emotional vulnerability. Allison Janney was outstanding as the straight talking mother from hell who just loves to throw kitchen utensils at her own daughter (seriously...what the hell). I wished the story delved into their relationship further, just so she could have more screen time. Sebastian Stan also deserves recognition as he conveys both anger and love perfectly. Gillespie's directing style was interesting. Some nice one take edits and the figure skating segments were electrifying, albeit with a noticeable green screen. They tried too hard changing the traditional biopic formula by making it quirky. Consistently breaking the fourth wall, mixing narratives, embedding an interview with a linear plot. It works, however the constant use of these grew tiresome especially for a two hour runtime. Having said that, the plot never skates on thin ice and glides along swiftly. This is Robbie's baby, she and the film deserve recognition.

I must have been at a different movie than those who did not like it. The story is well written, the acting was excellent and the twist in the way the story is delivered makes for a memorable event. At certain points when Tonya speaks to the audience she speaks right to you. A great story to get lost in and I was not really interested in seeing this when I went into the theater.

Anyone who was old enough to be sucked in by the media circus that this scandal turned into should make it a point to take a look at this film, in my opinion.

The media seemed much more about the sensationalism of it all than it was about maintaining the kind of objective balance that'd presume Tonya's innocence until evidence proved otherwise. But being honest, even if evidence came along that absolved Harding of any wrongdoing in the Kerrigan attack, how happy would the media have been to report it? Or would we have been to hear it? Because we've got to admit that, although it might not seem very nice, there was quite a bit of fun to be had during the couple months we spent focusing on this Hillbilly girl and her bumbling husband, right? Well with that in mind, what would the thought of her innocence have brought, other than damage to the narrative we were having such fun with? Regardless of where you stand in regards to her innocence, its only fair to acknowledge that her role had been laid out for her pretty much from the get-go. Kerrigan was its hero the moment she became the victim, could we have honestly entertained the notion that maybe Harding wasn't as much the villain as seemed to befit the story? How fun would that have been? Really?

In the last couple months, the articles about this upcoming movie had comment sections riddled with people mostly bemoaning the current state of Hollywood. Not the scandals, but that it'd even stoop so low as to peddle this kind of white trash story. "White trash" came up repeatedly of course, and while comment sections generally aren't the place to find the best sampling of voices, I personally wasn't able to find a single comment that was anything other than damningly derivative of Hollywood and/or Tonya...certainly not one suggesting the possibility that maybe there was more to this story than what we already knew. But that was always a possibility, wasn't it? The telling of a side that we hadn't heard?

After seeing the flick last night, I passed along my recommendation of it to a friend, commenting that Tonya Harding's guilt might have to be re-thought. In response, I got a chuckling, "Oh I have a hard time believing that!" Which, sure that has to be the prevailing opinion, I'd imagine. But why? Do we really and truly think that we have the kind of information on the subject that'd allow for the most objective, fact-based decision on it? Have many of us ever stopped long enough to have wondered whether or not we did? The line of questioning isn't likely to be met with much more than scoffs by those who've yet to view the movie, but they're questions that end up being well begged and something that the same people may find themselves unwittingly exploring afterward. I sure have been.

In the meantime, this isn't just a great movie, but a great sports movie, detailing an ice skating prodigy who love for skating drove her life, and whose life ultimately served as a testament to just how influential a class system can be that many of us are barely cognizant of even existing. Based off interviews and testimony from the key players in the Kerrigan scandal, watching it brings a much needed sense of balance to the story and will likely leave you amazed at how easily the truth can be blurred when viewed through the lens of sensationalized media coverage.

10/10, great movie that grabs you from its opening scene and will have you entranced throughout.

... because I just remember everybody actually involved being so unlikable. This caustic true-story comedy-drama tells the story of Tonya Harding (Margot Robbie), the champion figure skater who came from a hardscrabble background, raised by an abusive mother (Allison Janney), but overcoming the odds to rise to the top of her sport, only to see it come crashing down thanks to the criminal activity of her dim-witted husband Jeff (Sebastian Stan).

I'm old enough to recall the story well enough, and I didn't really care about it then, let alone now, and I've never been a fan of figure skating. However, I am once again pleasantly surprised with how good the resulting movie is. Robbie and Stan, two of the prettiest people in movies these days, do a good job of deglamorizing themselves. Robbie is fierce, a description I am loathe to use as it's overused, but it really fits here. Janney got an Oscar for Supporting Actress, and she's also "uglied up", and her character is completely reprehensible. In fact, most of the people are in this movie, and there's a lot of coarse language and violence, particularly spousal abuse both by and from Harding. The film doesn't really have a message, as it's more of a character study and a sad-but-true tale of shattered dreams. It's also very well acted, darkly funny, and occasionally moving.

I was going to make a list of people who made extraordinary things during the same period that Tonya Harding monopolized the headlines but then I thought it was a pointless exercise. Charles Manson will always be more famous, much more than Sharon Tate. That's the world we live in or maybe it always was. The sadness verging on horror of of the Tonya Harding story will win, fascination wise, than any kind of kindness from anyone anywhere. Now that out of my system let me say that I Tonya is an entertaining harrowing tale directed by Craig Gillespie and his extraordinary cinematographer Nicholas Karakatsanis with, clearly, Martin Scorsese in their minds and hearts. Margot Robbie is terrific and Sebastian Stan as the husband from hell, superb but it's Allison Janney that creates a character that is impossible to take and irresistible at the same time. She is spectacular. So, that's more than enough to recommend I Tonya but if the Tabloid Times is something you subscribe I will highly recommend Gus Van Sant's To Die For and Michael Ritchie's made for television The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom.