I, Tonya (2017)

Review

120min

Genre:       Fact-based, Comedy, Drama, Sport

Director:    Craig Gillespie

Cast:         Margot Robbie, Sebastian Stan, Allison Janney…and more

Writer:      Steven Rogers

-Synopsis-

Fuelled by resentment and a difficult upbringing dominated by a hyper-critical mother, combative American figure skater Tonya Harding rises through the ranks of competitive global ice skating in the early 90s, only to have her entire future thrown into turmoil by bad decisions and the actions of her meddling husband—in this warts-and-all sensationalist true story look at the rise and fall of an athlete and notorious media sensation.

Having consolidated her mass appeal and secured a position as one the brightest young starlets working today, Aussie superstar Margot Robbie moves up the Hollywood power ladder by turning producer and teaming up with director Craig Gillespie (Lars and the Real Girl, Fright Night) for an unapologetically brash and bold portrayal of an infamous media figure—attempting to reshape the public perception of Tony Harding while making a few cutting points about a judgemental, celebrity-obsessed, sensationalist news junkie generation.

Robbie herself stars as working-class Oregonian Harding, struggling through a tough and deprived upbringing and the abusive attentions of her blunt and neglectful mother LaVona Golden (Allison Janney), on her way to becoming a top figure skater and brash competitor at the global level—despite the resentment of the sport’s prim and proper establishment. But as the rivalry with fellow American skater Nancy Kerrigan intensifies with the Olympics looming, the ill-advised interference of her inept and physically abusive ex-husband Jeff Gillooly (Sebastian Stan) and his bumbling associates will change the course of her life, creating a media sensation and one of the most infamous moments in sporting history.

Whether framed around relatively recent events or based in a historical context, the biopic has long been a Hollywood staple which yields plenty a film on a yearly basis, arguably becoming somewhat of a stale and predictable sub-genre in terms of structure and execution, and often creating controversy in terms of their reliability. But rare is the occasion when a biopic not only acknowledges the issue of historical inaccuracy but weaves it into the narrative, presenting two conflicting versions of events as the story goes along and addressing them in amusing, self-referential fourth wall-breaking fashion.

Based largely on the contradicting testimonies of Harding and Gillooly themselves, as well as some verifiable and undeniable facts, ‘I, Tonya’ combines a brash dramatised version of Harding’s life and the infamous event which changed it, mixed with faux documentary style interviews-to-camera from the various parties involved—contextualising the situations, explaining their motivations and justifying their actions.

In terms of tone and narrative ‘I, Tonya’ is a biographical drama which perfectly reflects the character of its subject, a single-minded rebellious biopic from the wrong side of the tracks with little regard for convention . . . and the stylistic fingerprints of Martin Scorsese and others. Gillespie and writer Steven Rogers  attempt to reframe the overwhelmingly negative public perception of Harding by painting a human portrait of a flawed individual, using her circumstances and an environment of abuse to justify her character while shifting responsibility and culpability, a fact which is cleverly referenced within the narrative by Harding herself—with very little attempt to address the real victim in this story, Nancy Kerrigan.

But as the title suggests this isn’t the just story of sabotage and scandal, or the attack itself, this is the unapologetic tale of Tanya, and it’s about as bold and entertaining as a biopic gets. Packed with expertly re-created skating scenes, lamentable fashions and plenty of graphic language, ‘I, Tonya’ is endlessly entertaining and captivating, often hilarious and outrageous, and occasionally poignant too—using a soundtrack of classic tunes to drive the film and give it energy, but staying on the right side of coming off like a 1970s music video.

Yet this impetuous and quintessentially American indie dramedy also has something to say about the world in which it’s set, holding up a mirror to society to show  a judgemental generation obsessed with celebrity and scandal, easily led by the media and always hungry for heroes to hoist up and then tear down—hopefully opening the audience’s eyes to how much worse we are now, and how comfortable we’ve become with it.

Ultimately as a character piece ‘I,Tonya’ rises and rises on the quality of the cast, and the sheer number of nominations across this year’s awards season should indicate the level of performance they bring to the table.

Margot Robbie expertly handles the physical and emotional demands of the titular role to deliver an impressively layered performance which overshadow her beauty and star status, while the reliably excellent Allison Janney is formidable as her hilariously blunt mother, bringing humanity to a character which is portrayed with few redeeming qualities. But the boys in support bring just as much to the film, with Paul Walter Hauser proving the comedic heart of the piece as inept co-conspirator Shawn, while Marvel superhero Sebastian Stan truly gets to display his acting chops as ex-husband Gillooly, managing to make an obsessive and abusive figure utterly sympathetic and almost stealing the show along the way.

When it comes to what really happened and who is responsible for what, the film leaves enough room for the audience to make up its own mind, although it no doubt leads them down a certain path, even while proclaiming how little it matters what everyone thinks. In the end there’s no way to verify the truth, and ‘I,Tonya’ is of the school of thought that ultimately it’s all a matter of perception anyway—but Craig Gillespie & co. have a whale of a time unravelling it all, giving us a hugely entertaining and utterly captivating biopic which is as scrappy as its subject, edgy and hilarious while uncomfortably eye-opening to boot.

The Bottom Line…

Combining conflicting accounts and bringing a new perspective to a sporting debacle which captured the public’s attention and fed its appetite for scandal, ‘I, Tonya’ reframes the general perception of a notorious figure while captivating the audience with an unapologetically bold and brash biographical comedy/drama— breathing new life into the stale biopic sub-genre and entertaining us throughout.

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