An Unexpected Pleasure

Rating: 8/10 (10 November 2018)

"I, Tonya" is the kind of movie I usually wouldn't bother seeing. The previews pitched it as a biography and mockumentary-style rehash of the 1994 off-ice conflict between Olympic figure skaters Tonya Harding (heel), and Nancy Kerrigan (babyface). Yawn. But it's actually way more than that, and almost becomes a primer in how to enjoy the drama of "I, Donald," the very real-life train wreck coming to us live from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. "I, Tonya" does an amazing job of making the absurd seem reasonable, and blew the whole Harding/Kerrigan mess up in satirical splendor. It's a weirdly uplifting film in the sense that I left the theater knowing I was positively a better person than any of the characters on the screen. The soundtrack was especially solid, and the Steadicam work was amazing. "I, Tonya" is a terrific movie that deserves to be seen.