American infamy

Rating: 8/10 (17 March 2018)

Tonya Harding (Margot Robbie) comes from poor white trash and her domineering, abusive mother LaVona (Allison Janney). She had a natural talent for skating from a young age and driven by her unrelenting mother. At 15, she meets Jeff Gillooly (Sebastian Stan). Despite her mother or maybe to spite her mother, she marries Gillooly who slowly turns more and more violent. Her ability to execute the triple axel jump puts her above her competitors but her lower class crass personality clashes with the judges. In the 1992 Winter Olympics, she fails to medal coming in fourth. She falls back into waitressing when her former coach Diane convinces her to return for the 1994 Winter Olympics. During the leadup, she would be embroiled in an infamous incident with fellow skater Nancy Kerrigan.
It's funny at times with an undertone of Greek tragedy. It is pure delicious white trash infamy. It's great material and this movie has fun with it. It does have two hurdles to overcome. First is the unreliable narrator. The movie does play with this from a couple of different angles. It would be nice to play up even more this idea. It's fun and it inoculates against any slant in the story telling. The second is Margot Robbie's age. She's asked to play a very wide range from 15 all the way to present day. She doesn't look the part as a 15 year old. The movie could have played with that by claiming that she looked old for her age. It could be a funny jab at the filmmaking compromises. Quite frankly, she fits more after her failure in 92 and the movie works better as a struggling underdog. The more downtrodden the better she fits the role. Neither hurdle is major and both can be excused. Both Margot and Allison are terrific. Overall, this is a fun take on an infamous American story.