Scene Stealers Stole the Movie in this Mockumentary

Rating: 7/10 (6 January 2018)

From the very first opening shots of "I, Tonya", it is clear that this movie is unlike many others. Opening with a sequence of interviews from the main characters delvulging their take on the events to be recounted in this mockumentary style dark comedy, they state, these are "totally true interviews." And, in fact, they are! Most of the inteviews are re-enacted word-for-word from real-life on-camera interviews and transcripts.
Directed by Craig Gillespie, "I, Tonya" is a passion project picked-up by it's star Margot Robbie who produced the film under her production company LuckyChap Entertainment. In a Q&A session with the actress, cast members, and filmmakers of "I, Tonya," Robbie stated that she had started the LuckyChap company to promote more opportunities in films for women.
During the Q&A, Robbie stated, "reading this script was was not only the most original, there were also a number of incredible female leads (characters)." The script broke every rule and had a rebellious nature. Robbie said she didn't know that the story was true at first (Robbie was four-years-old when it happened).
Tonya Harding, who introduced herself in the movie as a matter-of-fact way, "growing-up poor or being a redneck which is what I am." She was, in fact, the first U.S. woman to land a triple axle. But, unfortunately, had a tumultuous relationship with the Olympic judges which is also depicted in this fact-based moive. Because there are only three women in the world who can land a triple-axel, Harding being one, director Gillespie said they used CGI to bring the stunt to screen.
"I, Tonya" is based on the true-life events of Olympian ice-skater Tonya Harding of what drove her to conspire against her lead opponent at the time, Nancy Kerrigan. Set-up in a mockumentary with a splash of real-life like interviews, "I, Tonya" is reminiscent of another film that was released in 1995 (ironically, one year before the real life Harding and Kerrigan incident) "To Die For" which starred Nicole Kidman and Matt Dillon, also based on a true story.
Unique in itself, "I, Tonya" as stated by its director, is a movie that breaks the fourth wall - all the characters are very rebellious. "I wanted the script to mirror that." In that, audiences see the characters addressing things like the script, the cameras and are very aware of the filming of the movie, which is done in a documentary style. Also, as a viewer, it's refreshing when the characters, who are clearly aware that they are playing real-life people, turn to the camera to confirm scenes that they are acting-out by stating "this really happened." Okay! Great! I was wondering that!
Similar to other movies like it, i.e. - "To Die For", "Borat", "Best in Show", "This is Spinal Tap" - "I, Tonya", while a very entertaining film, has it's flaws. One of which is having star Margot Robbie also play her Tonya character as a teenager. Sorry, it just wasn't believeable. Unless it was part of the gag. Also, distracting and unbelieveable was having the same actor play Jeff Gillooly, Harding's boyfriend, as a 17-year-old, who actually looked like an older man she was dating. Again, maybe it was part of the movie's many underlying jokes. Perhaps it's their characters who are reflecting on the events, re-enacting themsleves in their own minds eyes.
Because I feel like I've seen this movie before with a combinatin of the actual events as they transpired and in movies like "To Die For", "I, Tonya" was a bit of a let-down. But, for those who are too young to remember either of these, the movie will be quite an entertaining and original treat. A few things that weren't let-downs were scene-stealing peformances by actors Allison Janney (LaVona, Tonya's mother) and Paul Walter Hauser (Shawn Eckardt, Tonya's bodyguard).
Interesting enough though, is how the movie also addresses the fact that for those who were alive and living in America at the time, will remember the Tonya Harding and Nancy Karrigan incident differently. Most people, as the movie points-out, remembers it going down with Tonya hitting Nancy's knee with a crow bar herself. Not true! Others, will remember the incident happening at the Olympics. Also, not true!