A Ice Cold Dark Comedy

Rating: 8/10 (28 January 2018)

GRADE: B
THIS FILM IS RECOMMENDED.
IN BRIEF: A clever bio-pic that purposely mixes fact and fiction.
SYNOPSIS: The supposed story of ice skater, Tonya Harding.
JIM'S REVIEW: I, Tonya is not your typical biography film. Craig Gillespie solidly directs his movie about the infamous ice skater, Tonya Harding, with a bold conceit, purposely mixing fact and fiction and admitting this premise from the outset. He skates through the hard news facts and avoids conventional storytelling techniques in a refreshing way. The director tends to simplify the story as he adds one part high melodrama and two parts irony to his dark comedy. He does overload the film with 90's pop standards that overstate his message, but he assembles a winning cast of players who act their roles with expert glee and a strong satiric edge.
I, Tonya stays on target with its low-trash trashing of America, and having Tonya portrayed as the eternally abused heroine. Perhaps, not the most accurate depiction of this celebrity. The clever screenplay by Steven Rogers uses mock interviews with the actors in character and the supposed "true" events that led up to the attack on fellow skater, Nancy Kerrigan. The script reinforces this notion with a "she said-he said" formula which works.
The film sets up the story of Ms. Harding's early skating career, her heartless mother, her violent relationship with her husband, her Olympic dreams, and the "incident" leading to her downfall. It tells its tale effectively but spends too much time blaming those around Tonya as her victimizers and making her more saintly sympathetic than need be. Where the film mostly succeeds is in its sardonic black humor and outlandish characterizations.
Margot Robbie, a bit too beautiful for the part, is quite sensational as Tonya. The actress interprets her role very well as abused victim and hard-as-nails survivor. She rarely is shown to be apologetic or kind, usually appears to be temperamental and impetuous, yet Ms. Robbie makes Tonya empathetic and vulnerable. She is excellent throughout the film, her highpoint being her dressing room scene prior to Tonya's disgraceful showing at the Olympics and the film's brutal closing moments. Those alone deserve award attention.
Ms. Robbie gets strong support from a fine ensemble that are physically aligned to the real life counterparts and bring a fierce determination to their characters. Sebastian Stan is Jeff Gillooly, her abusive spouse, and he makes this despicable person a dangerous force and troubled soul. His scenes of sudden violence and unpredictable behavior are powerful. Paul Walter Hauser plays Shawn Eckhardt, his half-witted accomplice with delusions of grandeur, and the actor is quite wonderful...funny and yet pitifully tragic. Some of the other roles could use more clarification and depth, but they are graced with talented performers like Julianne Nicholson and Bobby Cannavale who add much to their sketchy parts.
But the real scene-stealer is Allison Janney as her cold-hearted mother, . She creates a bitter hateful woman, unloved and unloving, and Ms. Janney, almost unrecognizable, never allows her cruel character to be not the least bit sympathetic or caring with the moviegoing audience. What could easily have been an overdone evil caricature becomes an wildly eccentric character that is, understandably, the main cause-and-effect of Tonya's dysfunction. Her scenes with Ms. Robbie have a bittersweet sadness and a quick comic give-and-take shock value that empowers the film.
I, Tonya is a well-made and searing indictment of the rise and fall of one woman and her quest for fame, fortune, and the American Dream. Be careful what you wish for.