Everyone Has Their Own Truth...

Rating: 9/10 (1 April 2020)

These words are perhaps the most important ones ever spoken in the film, how do we define what is true or false, is everything as clear as we thought it was and so on. I Tonya opens with a title card saying it's based on irony free, totally contradictory and true interviews of Tonya Harding and Jeff Gillolly. We also at times hear from Lavonna Harding( Tonya's mom), her former coach Diane Rawlinson and her "bodyguard" Shawn Eckhardt. The screenplay written by Steven Rogers in my view is brilliant as we always hear varying perspectives from all sides over what happened, Tonya the person and the events of Kerrigan-Harding the infamous
scandal which made Tonya a tabloid pariah.
The music, editing and pace all blend perfectly as they capture Tonya's personality, her fast-paced life, her wildness, and her attitude. Tonya is in many ways a rock-star in the figure skating world due to her skating style, lifestyle as a tom-boy, redneck and someone who came from nothing and tried to survive using the only gift she had. The film is styled as a black-comedy, but is in many ways a tragedy as we observe someone see their dreams taken from them by bad choices, bias, loved ones and outside forces.
Margot Robbie is not the actress I envisioned to play someone like Tonya due to her beauty, and other factors. Yet she delivers arguably her best work on screen showing Tonya's highs and lows from her skating career, to the struggles of her life off the ice. Tonya in spite of her image as a rough and tough girl, is actually very insecure look at how Margot's voice quivers when she talks of her 1st date with Jeff, or when she hears a judge tell her she doesn't fit the mold of what the USFGA wants a female skater to be like. But when she is wronged, Margot using profanity or sarcasm pulls no punches like telling the judges to suck my d****
when she is told you have no talent, and we don't like your attire. Tonya's anger fuels her at times, and also is possibly the instrument of her destruction.
Allison Janney who I've been a big fan of thanks to MOM on CBS' delivers a incredible performance as Lavonna. She is Tonya's chief tormentor, frequently putting her down emotionally saying she won't amount to anything, asking why she tolerates' her husband's behavior and violence and at times her skating skills.
Lavonna's view is that Tonya's anger fuels her, she even pays a heckler at one point to enrage Tonya before her skate at nationals where Tonya lands the triple axel. Her chemistry with Margot really stands out, particularly when she and Margot have their big argument scene at the table when she yells at Tonya, and yet her whole expression changes to horror when she throws a knife and pierces her arm. She shows no outward love for Tonya, but there are two scenes one where see on the job tells her boss she's not serving tables, till she sees Tonya's face finish a good routine and of course the wire scene.
Lavonna in a twisted way really does want the best for Tonya, but is so machine-like in how she goes about it and finally when we see a "tender" moment, it's revealed Lavonna was willing to hurt her daughter again. Sebastian Stan is brilliant too, but is in some ways overshadowed by Margot and Allison. On a side note, I'm so happy Allison won an Oscar here, though I think the film really should've gotten a best picture nomination.
Many say the movie is too pro-Tonya and glosses over her mistakes, but to me that's not the point of the film. Tonya's anger does hurt her career as does her stubbornness and willingness to speak her mind and fight back.
Yet the film's most tragic moments are Tonya after the scandal. There is the haunting mirror scene where Margot I truly think earned her nomination as she tries to put make-up on and be the girl the community wants. But Tonya's spirit has already been broken by the constant media harassment, Jeff's abuse towards her and how no one really shows her any love. She is on the verge of tears, she's hurting and finally smiles trying to put a brave face on but we know it's not the same girl who exploded with joy after the 1991 Nationals.
Then there's the banishment scene at the courthouse where Tonya learns in spite of cooperating with the FBI and pleading guilty to hindering the investigation of the Kerrigan attack, she learns she is banned for life. Again, Margot is haunting crying almost having a nervous breakdown telling the judge not to take away the one thing that gives her stability, joy and a canvas where she can be herself. And finally, the boxing scene where Doris Day's music plays and Tonya talks of how she tried to make a living as a boxer because "Violence is all I knew anyhow."
Is Tonya a saint? No, but to see a woman lose her career, dignity, and everything while others made money off her, got away with abuse, or committed more wrongs than she did is injustice personified.
And yet, Tonya gets up after getting KO' d, and continues to try and make a living and a name for herself. The best films are the ones that challenge what you thought you knew, and make you see things differently. Tonya was featured in documentaries and interviews, but the media always portrayed her in 1 negative light, and we never saw the other side of the story.
Tonya's reputation precedes her, and yet most of the craziest quotes and events from the film are actually backed up by archive footage of the real participants, and other sources. Tonya it turns out was not a full-blown liar, and the film ends with telling us in spite of everything she has made a living, become a Mom and wants the world to know she is a good mother.
PS: My mom was very anti- Tonya, and openly asked me when the trailer came out for this film why people would want to see a movie about Tonya who was trailer-trash, a liar etc... After we saw the movie with my Dad, she told me her opinion on Tonya while it wasn't a full 180 change, she did note
" I wasn't aware of what she went through, and she deserves to have a chance to coach and come back."