The rollercoaster of American skater Tonya Harding, a super talented and successful skater, who will always be known for one incident in particular.
What an absolutely first class movie this was, prior to this I knew nothing about Tonya Harding, after watching this I felt like I'd learned a lot, and been thoroughly entertained, it even encouraged me to seek out videos of her, visually, they got it spot on, from what I've seen of her, they also got her story spot on.
An immaculate production, they got the era absolutely spot on, and it was out together in such a way, that it absolute flies by, it's so well paced.
It's funny, it's moving, it's quite shocking, I won't give too much away about the incident, and I won't dwell on it too much, but it really is a shocking moment, one which will leave you speechless.
Margot Robbie delivers an award winning performance, I know she's an actress, and will have no doubt learned how to perform all number of accents, but she absolutely nails it. I had no idea that Robbie could skate, clearly she could.
Allison Janney and the whole cast were terrific. That mother of Tonya's was quite something.
9/10.
I, Tonya
2017
Action / Biography / Comedy / Drama / Sport
I, Tonya
2017
Action / Biography / Comedy / Drama / Sport
Plot summary
Competitive ice skater Tonya Harding rises amongst the ranks at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, but her future in the sport is thrown into doubt when her ex-husband intervenes.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
March 01, 2018 at 07:08 PM
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It's an excellent, interesting movie.
On paper it just didn't appeal to me...
... 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.
What did Tonya know and when?
Comparisons come to mind when thinking of both Tonya Harding and this excellent film about her life and that notorious incident that led to her disgrace
and banishment. The film is done almost as a homage to the faux documentary
style that Gus Van Sant used in To Die For which was based on the Elizabeth
Smart story. Both even had Australians as protagonists, Nicole Kidman for the
Van Sant film and gloriously memorable Margot Robbie for I Tonya.
I racked my brain trying to think of a sports figure like Tonya Harding and the
closest I came up with was Shoeless Joe Jackson who came from a similar trailer park background that Harding did. He too listened to the worse angels
of his nature and got himself banned for life in his sport. Jackson had far less
education than Harding did, in fact he was almost illiterate.
One thing about Jackson though his choice of life partner was a good one. By
all accounts his choice of life mate was inspired as Katie Winn Jackson stuck
loyally by him and was never a bad influence.
That could not be said for Jeff Gillooly who had the same kind of trailer park
background that Tonya did and who let being the husband of a celebrity just
totally go to his head. Sebastian Stan whom I consider one of the best actors
around today plays Gillooly with an explosive intensity. As the sports press
built up this rivalry between Harding and Nancy Kerrigan, Gillooly tries to think
of ways he can make himself indispensable to his wife.
Thus was born the knee capping incident which gained both Kerrigan and Harding a celebrity status far beyond the world of women's figure skating. It
was done by a man hired by a dim bulb friend of Gillooly's played by Paul Walker Houser. The scene with Houser being interviewed by the FBI is laughable and the expressions on the faces of the agents just says it all.
The investigation went almost Watergate like up the ladder until the real target was reached by law enforcement and public opinion. It's such an incredibly plaintive scene as Harding begs the Figure Skating Association not to
be banned. It's all she knows. The film is purposely vague as to how much
Tonya did know.
Best of all is Allison Janney and while the cast is great and many might get
Oscar consideration Janney I think is a sure bet for a nomination as the monster of a mother that Robbie has. Still alive she denies the child abuse
allegations. I kind of doubt it. Janney is unforgettable.
Two scenes are also real keys to Harding's character and how it developed. One is early on when Harding berates the judges. She knows she outskated
everyone, but they remind her that form and presentation count big for them.
And later on she's told she's not the right image. Figure skating champions have to be pristine princesses as they have from Sonja Henie to today. She
does make the effort to clean up her image.
She almost does and a scene that will break your heart just before the fall is her leaving an arena and being asked by a little girl for an autograph. In that
moment with dignity and class she shows herself the role model sports figure
she was expected to be. Poignant all the more because the audience knows
the fall is coming.
More than would be figure skaters should see I Tonya. It's the sad story of an
American tragedy.